RCS in iOS 18: What You Need to Know About Apple's Android Messaging Overhaul

[MacBookPro88]

Ha what a crap feature and how this of course was completely blown out of proportion by idiotic google.
I was looking forward to this to then find out that none of the 10 android people in my list have this omnipresent standard enabled and have obviously no clue what it is...

I don't believe for a second that none of your 10 android people have this enabled. The things people make up on the internet.

It's crazy how this feature makes texting experience better on iPhones and people are upset about it. I guess some people need to feel superior to another person because of a phone choice.

 

[Ad47uk]

UK smartphone penetration is at 97% so almost everyone can already install and use a cross-platform messaging app.

Yes the networks need to support RCS for it to work. They’ll need an incentive to support it since implementing RCS will incur costs. Incentives might be the ability to sell messaging services to businesses, etc. (although businesses might decline since they can already reach most of the population via WhatsApp. There’d probably have to be a sizeable portion of the population who are only contactable via RCS to make that worthwhile).

So still 3% who don't have a smartphone, that is still a lot of people, also SMS will work on a 2G signal and also on a very weak signal, RCS need data and a pretty decent signal to work.
I know that RCS will default to SMS if it needs to, which is why we need to keep SMS going.

People keep saying about WhatsApp, but a lot of people, including me don't use it and have no interest in using it. I used to get people asking me to install it, even requests, but that have stopped now as people have realised i will never install WhatsApp, singal or anything like it.
A lot of older people don't use Whatsapp and again, these people who have a basic phone can't.

SMS does the job for me, it allows me to send messages to people I want to send messages to and to receive messages from them, I don't want people sedning me photos, videos and using silly emojis. I have seen some messages on different phones, and it is like going back to Ancient Egypt. i used the basic ones, sad face, happy face, laughing, thumbs up and thumbs down.

 

[Ad47uk]

Ha what a crap feature and how this of course was completely blown out of proportion by idiotic google.
I was looking forward to this to then find out that none of the 10 android people in my list have this omnipresent standard enabled and have obviously no clue what it is...

I am surprised that none of them have it enabled, as google text app brings up a notification aksing people if they want to turn it on. They may have opted not to turn it on, likeI would have if I used Messages.

 

[Ad47uk]

I don't believe for a second that none of your 10 android people have this enabled. The things people make up on the internet.

It's crazy how this feature makes texting experience better on iPhones and people are upset about it. I guess some people need to feel superior to another person because of a phone choice.

i would have thought some of them may as it is a thing the app brings up asking if they want to use it, unless they have opted not to enable it.
I don't use the default Android messaging app, so in most part I have no idea who has it enabled, apart from a couple who told me they have disabled RCS.

 

[Ad47uk]

Just assumed it would be on as default on Android phones. Yeah that makes sense what you have said though (about them not enable RCS on their phone).

The app will come up with a notification asking to turn RCS on at some point, i know somone who had it a few weeks ago and they did not eneable it.
I use a third party text app, that can't use RCS, I use it because of some features that Googles own app don't have.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

What you REALLY need to know about RCS: It doesn't work.

Nope, I'm not kidding. Had to turn it off, because sending RCS to people who don't have carrier support doesn't revert to SMS, it just fails. Messages just don't send, you get the lovely red circled ! of doom and red "Not delivered".

Also, I can't understand why people keep bringing up What'sCrapp in RCS threads. It's NOT an alternative, and lots of us won't put F*c*book garbage on our systems. I don't trust *uckerberg, I don't trust his company, and I'm not using that crap. You want to send secure messages and don't have iMessage you'd better install Signal, not ad company spyware.

 

[Mr. Heckles]

Also, I can't understand why people keep bringing up What'sCrapp in RCS threads. It's NOT an alternative, and lots of us won't put F*c*book garbage on our systems. I don't trust *uckerberg, I don't trust his company, and I'm not using that crap. You want to send secure messages and don't have iMessage you'd better install Signal, not ad company spyware.

Signal is only good if all of your friends and family uses it.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

Signal is only good if all of your friends and family uses it.

Mine get a choice: iMessage or Signal for encrypted messages, or they can send SMS. Somebody asked me to install What'sCrapp the other day, my response was simple: No.

Then they asked why. They ended up with Signal, and What'sCrapp got uninstalled on their phone too.

 

[Ad47uk]

Signal is only good if all of your friends and family uses it.

That is the problem with any of these apps, the only system that you are pretty sure eveyone will have that has a mobile phone is SMS.
I do have Faceache messenger on my phone, but only use it for a few people who I don't want to have my phone number, or they live in a different country and that is the problem I have with Apps like Whatsapp and signal, that they require my phone number. At least Faceache don't require that.
If i am going to give someon my phone number to message me on Whatsapp or signal, then they may as well use SMS. For most people in the U.K SMS is free, well it comes bundled with their service, I get unlimited text and most people will get far more than they will ever use

Like Victor says, people have a choice of ways, with me, they can phone me, send an SMS, email me if they want to send me videos, photos or documents, or if they really have to, message me using Faceache.

 

[Ad47uk]

Mine get a choice: iMessage or Signal for encrypted messages, or they can send SMS. Somebody asked me to install What'sCrapp the other day, my response was simple: No.

Then they asked why. They ended up with Signal, and What'sCrapp got uninstalled on their phone too.

but Signal users are still far lower than Whatsapp and it is because of so many people using Whatsapp that people keep using it.
My sister and her family use Whatsapp, they have a family group chat and that is what a lot of people use it for.

I have been asked over the last couple of years or more about using it by different people, but I refuse, not interested and not interested in signal either, not that it is worth it as I don't think I know anyone who uses it

RCS on Iphone for people who want to use it seems a good idea as long as it works ok. That also depends on if you want to use it, it seems like it is easy to disable, just like on Android.

 

[azhava]

I only have Whatsapp because of a golf league I'm in that runs the league chat/scheduling through it. I do like it for that purpose because I can turn Notifications off and check it at my leisure and don't have 30 guys constantly blowing up my phone with SMS/MMS for chit-chat.

Other than that, all my texting with everybody else is done through the Messages app, either iMessage or SMS. None of those people are interested in downloading/using other messenger apps and some of them wouldn't have the slightest idea of how to do it. Most of my friends aren't phone geeks - it's just a tool to them and they use the apps it came with to text, call and check e-mails, that's about it.

 

[Mrjoedot]

Force close messages, restart your phone. If it's not there, there is a method that tricks your phone by using your laptop as a middleman to connect to the serve but I would advise against it unless you are technical minded. Just be patient as its a gradual rollout.

Legend 👍🏻

 

[MacBH928]

what happens if you sms a dumb phone?

 

[wbeasley]

what happens if you sms a dumb phone?

it does all it can which is text. it might have some weird video support but probably low res screen so almost anything awful could happen or just ignored. your carrier would play a part too.

 

[aero7]

Europe is a big place full of different countries, don't confuse Europe with E.U. Vodafone used to support RCS in the U.K, but are now using Google version of it.
Google only stepped in because carriers were not using RCS.

I did not confuse anything, you inferred.

And the majority of Europeans (450 million of 600 million - deliberately not counting European part of Russia. For reasons) are living in the EU. It’s like saying „America“ and talking just about the USA. Which again, I didn’t do. Feel free to start a support group with Canada and Mexico though.

Anyway, which European carrier supports RCS and is on Apples list? What did I miss?

 

[Ad47uk]

what happens if you sms a dumb phone?

It will just end up as text, eveything else will be stripped.

 

[Ad47uk]

I did not confuse anything, you inferred.

And the majority of Europeans (450 million of 600 million - deliberately not counting European part of Russia. For reasons) are living in the EU. It’s like saying „America“ and talking just about the USA. Which again, I didn’t do. Feel free to start a support group with Canada and Mexico though.

Anyway, which European carrier supports RCS and is on Apples list? What did I miss?

Fair enough, just making sure, a lot of people think that the E.U means Europe. Some people still think the U.K is in the E.U.

As for European carriers supporting RCS, I don't know, Vodafone did for a while, but now use Googles version of it.

 

[ZebraDude]

My RCS switch tab in setting is not there. anyone got any idea how to turn it on?

This my friend needs to be deployed by the Network Operator that your iPhone uses. (you might want to call your operator and see when they will offer this)

 

[onthebuses]

I’m in the UK on EE. I have a friend who is also on EE. We turned off iMessage but can only send texts. We both have RCS enabled. So I’m guessing it won’t allow two iPhones to communicate on it and prefers iMessage!

I have also text people on EE with android. The same issue is that RCS will not enable in messages app. Does google really expect everyone to go and turn this on.

I don’t use Whastapp, only iMessage and signal. Some people will not communicate with me due to that.

 

[lozion]

Can an iPad RCS to an Android number using imessage's email?

 

[vantelimus]

Can an iPad RCS to an Android number using imessage's email?

If both the carrier and app used by the Android device supports RCS. From the info that has been posted on the MacRumors fora, that isn’t a given.