What RCS Messaging Between iOS and Android Can and Can’t Do (Yet)
Apple introduced RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging to the iPhone with iOS 18 last year, giving green bubble users access to more features and functions. But what exactly is possible with RCS on iPhone, and what else is exclusive to iMessage users? Are Android RCS users now fully integrated with iOS Messages app chats or not?
I’ll explain exactly what you can do in the RCS discussions between iPhones and Android phones, and explain what features are still missing and when you might be able to get them. If you have contacts on other mobile platforms, this should help you better understand what the experience is like on their end.
To use RCS, you must have a carrier that supports it (most do now). On an iPhone, open Settings, then choose Applications > Messages > RCS Messaging to activate it. In Google Messages on Android, tap your profile picture (top right), then choose Message settings And RCS Discussions to enable the feature.
RCS on iOS and Android: What you can do
Since iOS 18, RCS messaging is officially supported in the iOS Messages app, specifically through the RCS 2.4 Universal Profile. This brings Android users closer to the green bubble of parity with iMessage users, although some features only work one way and some features only work in one-on-one conversations and not in group chats.
One notable upgrade is support for high-resolution photos and videos, which should work seamlessly in all your RCS-compatible chats, with no more compression or transfer issues. Web links also look better, as you’ll get a proper preview displayed on both Android and iOS, and you’ll also be able to share current locations (but only as a static pin, not live and updated).
Web links are now much better between iOS and Android.
Credit: Lifehacker
Typing indicators and read receipts are supported in both directions, assuming you have them enabled on your devices. However, they don’t work in group chats: RCS users on Android can now join group chats, but the experience may be buggy depending on reporting, and you lose typing indicators and read receipts.
Emoji reactions are now supported, to a point, but from my testing they only work on iPhone to Android. If you try to send an emoji reaction the other way, iPhone users will simply receive a separate text showing the emoji (it won’t appear as a bubble above the original message).
RCS on iOS and Android: what you can’t (yet) do
If you look at everything you can do in iMessage (with other iMessage users) and Google Messages (with other Android RCS users), you’ll realize that there’s a long way to go when it comes to cross-platform support. For example, right now you can’t unsend messages or reply inline in a thread, either from Android to iPhone or from iPhone to Android.
You can edit messages, but only if you’re an Android user sending a message to an iPhone user, and with the caveat that the iPhone user receives two texts (the original message and the edited message, which rather defeats the purpose). The ability to edit messages on an iPhone simply doesn’t appear in an RCS conversation.
Editing messages is something that doesn’t really work yet.
Credit: Lifehacker
Another missing feature is end-to-end encryption of your chats and files shared in them. Apple has promised that this support in RCS chats will be on the way, although it hasn’t appeared yet, not even in iOS 26. This should give you pause when it comes to sharing sensitive information in these chats.
Full end-to-end encryption is part of RCS Universal Profile 3.0, which Google is beta testing and Apple has not yet adopted. Once this next update finally hits iPhones and Android devices, interoperability will be improved again: it should, in theory, bring full support for message editing, emoji reactions, and inline replies. Until then, this is a half-baked implementation, especially for group chats.
