I have Whatsapp solely for different group chats or meeting people when I travel internationally. If not for that I would never use whatsapp. That 100M users in the US is also pretty small, considering there's over 300m people here. No one is using a messaging app that can't reach 2/3 of everyone they might run across
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iPhone-Android RCS Conversations Are End-to-End Encrypted in iOS 26.5
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RCS is a improvement for the millions upon millions of people who don't want to use whatsapp. The "problem" is i want to send high quality files over the default messaging app on my phone. That's literally it. Whatsapp does not solve that specific problem.
I still don't understand your point. You talk as if this problem doesn't need to exist but that's irrelevant. The fact is that it does, so improving RCS is a good idea. Moreover I'm not even gonna mention the issues people have with using Meta products, or the simple fact that having multiple messaging apps is not ideal, people want simplicity, and SMS/RCS is not going away.
But RCS will only be available to a small number of users, far fewer than WhatsApp is available too.
Like I said, a solved problem.
95% of my messages are RCS now. I am having a great time not using Whatsapp
And 0% of my messages are RCS and amazingly I manage to send unpixelated photos and videos to everyone.
Just because it's a solved problem for you doesn't mean it's a solved problem for everyone else.
I don't want to remember which contacts use Telegram, Signal, WhatsApp, etc. Maybe your circle has all converged on one solution and that's good for you. But not everyone is so lucky.
But adding RCS into the mix just makes that even more complicated because now you need to remember which contacts use RCS, WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal etc.
That's
That's the beauty of RCS from the US perspective where all carriers support it. Soon it will be as ubiquitous as SMS - phone number needed only. No need to know iOS/Android/WhatsApp/etc.
It's not a solved problem. Meta is a problem in and of itself. For those of us who don't want to use or support Meta or install yet another app, we fully support improving everything other than WhatsApp. You aren't going to convince us to use WhatsApp, we have zero interest in doing so.
good for you. Many people like my parents are not on whatsapp. So I get to send them high quality pics and videos.
LazyMonkIE
macrumors member
Nobody is being encouraged to use iMessage because nearly everyone I know has changed the default messaging app to WhatsApp. Apple lost the battle with iMessage by keeping it iPhone only. It's completely irrelevant to most people.
Update: Finally I have E2EE working now on my iPhone on iOS 26.5. I toggled RCS messaging off and then on again, and it said “Waiting for activation…” then 20 seconds later the RCS & E2EE was working with my conversations with Google Messages beta users.
I’m so glad it’s finally working. Google does need to push this update to the stable release, it's not yet working when I message regular Google Messages users, only beta users. My carrier is US Mobile - Light Speed (T-Mobile network).
Screenshots from my iPhone 13 Pro Max on OS 26.5 after toggling the RCS switch, with E2EE now working:
I’m so glad it’s finally working. Google does need to push this update to the stable release, it's not yet working when I message regular Google Messages users, only beta users. My carrier is US Mobile - Light Speed (T-Mobile network).
Screenshots from my iPhone 13 Pro Max on OS 26.5 after toggling the RCS switch, with E2EE now working:
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Hey dba415,
You had any issues texting Android users via RCS after updating to the Public Release of 26.5?
I can text RCS from my iPhone 16 Pro (running 26.5), but it does not work on my Mac, iPad, or Apple Watch. When trying to send on those devices (all running 26.5) using Messages, the text message appears to send but never shows delivered. It also never shows up in Messages on my iPhone. Eventually, I'll get an error that the text failed to send. RCS messages I send on my iPhone do show up on my other devices. This was NOT a problem before the update to 26.5. I've spent all day trying various troubleshooting steps. Very frustrating. From searching online, I'm not the only one having this issue. Oh, and no problems texting via SMS or iMessage from any of my devices.
Thanks!
I gave this a try but it didn’t work for me. I wonder if it’s because it’s being rolled out gradually?
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In the eyes of Apple, its mission has been accomplished. Their objective was to implement an operating system that supports RCS encryption, and they achieved this. However, the implementation of this feature ultimately depends on the carriers and their respective schedules.
It is important to note that this feature is still in beta testing. Apple has indicated that it will be gradually rolled out over the coming months and that even if a carrier is listed as supported, it does not guarantee that all users on that carrier will immediately access the feature.
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dg1974
macrumors member
Agree.
And I would also point out a very common configuration: an iPhone and a Windows PC.
how do you chat with friends from the PC? WhatsApp (or Telegram, etc).
no iMessage from Windows so... why bother? there're already a working solution for this kind of problem.
and 99% of users doesn't care about Meta and all that stuff.
UPDATE:
Here is what I've discovered since my last post. If I go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options on my iPhone and TURN OFF 'Limit IP Address Tracking,' I can successfully send RCS texts again from my Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, etc. I'm using T-Mobile, so clearly enabling the 'Limit IP Address Tracking’ option is causing an issue. It didn't happen until I updated to 26.5. I also notice that I'm unable to send even SMS messages to some Android users when the 'Limit IP Address Tracking' option is enabled.
Go figure. At least I have a workaround for now.
Thanks!
It should be added here that this is mainly an Apple iPhone related problem. It simply does not exist in that form for Android users. For example, in Switzerland Android folks can use RCS even if their Telco company like e. g. Swisscom does not support it. How is that possible? The answer is because Google has stepped in and has taken over the necessary technical part. So regarding Android, Google effectively became some sort of an RCS provider. This is of course true only for Android. Regarding the iPhone, Apple would had to do something similar which they obviously don't want to do. Why should they? They have iMessage. 😉
This lead to the current situation (2026) that Apple is pointing at the Telcos while the Telcos are pointing at Apple. Out of my presonal view it is more the fault of the Telcos than Apples ones. In Europe a lot of Telcos simply misjudged the situation. They wanted to make some sort of a big business with RCS. For most Telcos it looked as some sort of MMS 5.x. That approach failed miserably because there already existed some "free" alternatives which are by the way not really "free". Whatever, in the end RCS was simply abandoned.
And now the Telcos would have to partially reactivate a basic RCS support without benefiting from it. They would effectively be doing this only for Apple and its users – free of charge. That seems somewhat ironic – and fair, in the sense of a punishment for poor management.
It quite literally is, though. 🙂
To clarify, it’s been solved much in the same way that “How to effectively and efficiently drive a nail into wood” has been solved. If a particular user doesn’t like hammers, they may say that it’s not solved FOR THEM. But the problem that existed has a solution so it can be considered solved.
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If they wanted to improve that, they could have released Google Messages for the iPhone. But they didn’t. Because that wasn’t their goal.
I mean, with Android being the way the vast majority of people use RCS… and that only being available by Google Messages, they could cancel it with a simple change to Google Messages. It’d still be there, but it’d effectively be done.