iOS 18 RCS Support Rolling Out to Beta Users

[Nocturnal1]

Can anyone confirm if you can add RCS users to group chats that were once only all iMessage?

 

[Padriac]

You forgot the 3rd possibility, not everyone loves Apple or iOS. I've daily driven iPhones before and I don't like/enjoy using iOS nor do I like Apple's business practices.

That doesn't mean I wholeheartedly endorse Google's business practices either but Android is my lesser of two evils choice mainly because of the freedom it allows me within Android. I'm in IT but before I had an interest in IT, I was always interested in tech and I can still be interested in Apple and acknowledge when they do something I like without making them my personal computing choice.

Honest question: if you don’t care for Apple, why would you actively post on MacRumors? It isn’t exactly a cross-platform site.

 

[Padriac]

International users will probably still prefer WhatsApp. I don’t think there’s any guarantee that RCS is free on any given carrier or country. Combine that with the uncertain device/carrier support, and people are going to stick with something more consistent (WhatsApp)

Despite their supposed love of privacy (GDPR, etc.) Europeans LOVE them some Meta/Facebook.

 

[DakotaGuy]

iMessage has a bunch more features than RCS. Apple wants you to know you’re using iMessage, hence the difference.

I’m curious why they didn’t add another color to the mix to indicate RCS visually, instead of via text.

Another color would have been nice, but I assume that Apple uses green to signify you‘re using a carrier supplied phone number based service vs. Apple’s own iMessage service. The fact RCS is a much more modern and capable protocol vs SMS/MMS it probably should be a different color, however it tells you in at least a couple different places it’s an RCS message not to mention all of the other features that show up.

 

[Jimmy Bubbles]

but it's apple that's the problem, right? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[noSpeed]

With RCS, will I be able to message an android user directly from an ipad or macbook that have no cellular connection, only wifi?

 

[GuruZac]

Just messaged one of my buddies who’s diehard Android. RCS popped up and working. Although green bubbles, which I’m fine with, I’m just glad to send message effects, etc from Messages now.

 

[hybrid_x]

Right now they are green.

Long live the class separation!

 

[Nikodelrey]

Not sure how it came through before but I just sent a test PDF file as a text to my Pixel 8 Pro and it came through as an attachment and I was able to open it in Adobe Acrobat without any issues.

Hmmm. Interesting. I’ll have to do some research on this. Thanks for letting me know it works on your device!

 

[DblHelix]

Works for me. The only tech savvy android user I know shows as rcs

 

[ResolutionNZ]

They should switch to indigo bubbles for SMS so people can tell the difference. Also, why does the iMessage app have white bubble with a green background? Surely it's time to make it blue.

 

[CarlJ]

Blue denotes iMessage and RCS isn’t iMessage so…

Thus far, blue and green have separated two distinct protocols / transport mechanisms (and their attendant capabilities), iMessage and SMS. I was hoping they'd add a third color for RCS, since it's a different protocol, with different capabilities than the other two. Make it yellow, or cyan, or magenta, perhaps. It would make it more easy to discern what capabilities are available. Teal might be appropriate, being partway in between blue and green.

 

[0920730]

Just got it to work with my roommate who has a Google Pixel on T-Mobile, I'm on a 15 Pro Max on Verizon. I wondered how read receipts would work. His automatically showed up 'read' from the first message I sent (prob a setting on his phone). But I got prompted to allow or deny read receipts, just like in iMessage.

 

[Padriac]

Thus far, blue and green have separated two distinct protocols / transport mechanisms (and their attendant capabilities), iMessage and SMS. I was hoping they'd add a third color for RCS, since it's a different protocol, with different capabilities than the other two. Make it yellow, or cyan, or magenta, perhaps. It would make it more easy to discern what capabilities are available. Teal might be appropriate, being partway in between blue and green.

If that were true, wouldn’t SMS and MMS have been different colors already?

 

[AppleTO]

With RCS, will I be able to message an android user directly from an ipad or macbook that have no cellular connection, only wifi?

Unlikely, as it’s still tied to a carrier, regardless of the way the message gets there. However, you will likely be able to use continuity features as they exist now with SMS.

 

[CapitalIdea]

The best iOS 18 update is here!

While it is buggier than beta 1, at least the best feature of iOS 18 is now here.

I have the opposite experience. Beta 1 my keyboard was really acting up and now it’s better, and I’m happy about the larger highway labels on CarPlay also in beta 2. As for RCS, I don’t really speak to the help so everyone I know has blue bubbles anyway.

 

[scorpio vega]

Yeah.... that's definitely very mature.

How? It’s a preference. I also dislike talking to green bubbles

 

[flexwithmarius]

Despite their supposed love of privacy (GDPR, etc.) Europeans LOVE them some Meta/Facebook.

People love to ignore inconvenient facts when it suits them

 

[Supercyborgninja]

I just wish Apple would get serious about group messages and using RCS would make groupchats with non-Apple people the color purple maybe. Or make group chats with Apple people purple to denote “Apple is better”(not that I support this).

Would just love a real competitor for WhatsApp. Hate using anything with Meta/Google.

 

[Johnny907]

Verified this earlier with a friend. Was able to actually receive photos of my goddaughter’s fishing trip in full size instead of the ridiculous Thumbnail versions Apple previously restricted us to.
Too long coming but nice to finally have regardless of how the snobs feel about it.

 

[azentropy]

Carrier dependent it seems. Nothing for me (on Mint Mobile).

 

[ghostface147]

Glad it's a toggle. I can turn it off and keep green bubble people in the dark where they belong.

Savage.

 

[redbeard331]

They should switch to indigo bubbles for SMS so people can tell the difference. Also, why does the iMessage app have white bubble with a green background? Surely it's time to make it blue.

I got it to work for me after toggling airplane mode.

And yes it makes no sense that the icon is green, Apple hates green bubbles, and ironically, the iMessage app icon on macOS used to be blue, but they changed it to green when they switched to the ugly iOS 7 icons. It makes no sense at all, the iPhone should have adopted the blue macOS messages icon!

 

[Jovijoker]

🤮

 

[MDTyKe]

Works here to at least one Android user - yay. Read receipts, typing indicators, videos etc look good. It appears RCS doesn't have the handy "reply to this message" function iMessage has.. oh well.

PS: I wish they'd go with a darker green or something slightly different.