I tried RCS messages between iPhone and Android: this is how it works

After countless advertisements and several years of advocacy from Google, RCS has finally arrived in Apple’s Messages app. Right now, it’s only available as part of the second beta of iOS 18, before a full rollout later this fall, but for brave beta testers, it’s really, really here. So I did what any good journalist would do (especially one using Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile, since those are the only supported carriers): I turned on an iPhone and sent a text to the most tech-savvy guy I know: my dad. . After all, what could go wrong with explaining what I needed from it when testing RCS on Messages for the first time myself? Surprisingly, almost nothing.

Before using my Android-using dad as an RCS guinea pig, I had to do a few things. The first was to let him know I would be moving my phone number – a courtesy since he gets emails from Verizon every time I do it (sorry, Dad).

The second was to join Apple’s Developer Program, bring an iPhone 14 Plus review unit out of retirement, and configure it with the latest iOS 18 beta. Both of these steps took about three times as long than the rest of the process (including explaining to my father the different ways I needed him to respond to messages).

Then it was time to launch into a future powered by RCS, and by that I mean hitting a toggle in the Settings app. Seriously, that’s all there is to it at the moment for beta testers of the most recent version.

From there, it was time to send my first RCS SMS on an iPhone, so I figured I’d start with something easy: a jab about Apple finally getting the message. Next, it was time to test some RCS basics: the ability to react to messages and send read receipts from Android to iOS. I asked my dad to respond to my first message, and he responded with a thumbs-up, both to my original message and to my request for feedback. Both reactions appeared seamlessly and immediately, a vast improvement over the generic SMS alert on iOS 17 and earlier, and much closer to what we see from Apple’s iMessage service between Apple devices.

I also noticed that I didn’t need to test read receipts via RCS: they’re enabled by default. There also doesn’t seem to be a way to disable them since there’s only one toggle for all RCS settings, so you’re either in or out. Personally, I hope Apple adds the ability to toggle read receipts later, since I don’t usually use them, but this is beta software, after all.

The other main attraction of integrating RCS into Messages is the ability to send full-resolution videos and images from Android to iOS, just like you can do with iMessage between iPhones. After all, there’s nothing worse than asking a friend to take a great photo of you only for them to send it to you in low resolution. So I asked my dad to send a photo and a video clip, and he did it in a way only a dad could: with a cartoon about making beer and a video of him -even checking the gutters of the house I grew up in.

Once I finished shaking my head, I realized that both had arrived the same way, as if they had been sent from another iPhone. The comic was crystal clear and the video is much better than the Patterson-Gimlin resolution I often get when he sends me a clip. This is a big improvement over the difficulties SMS and MMS faced, and a sign that Google was probably right all along.

RCS on iPhone also lets you send stickers from your existing set and GIFs from Apple’s #pictures library, so I sent one of each to my dad. Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t seem to have sorted out the reactions to them yet, as I received the dreaded “Cheers to a GIF” and “Cheers to a photo” in response. Interestingly, when I reacted to the video my father sent, it was a nudge on my part but a basic text response on his.

The experience is therefore not yet perfect. Yes, iOS 18 is still in development, but I encountered another surprising problem while receiving video clips from my father. Although I had no problem opening and starting clips, there was no way to control them once they started playing. The play button disappears almost immediately and Apple’s usual slider on the bottom edge is nowhere to be found. If I wanted to go back and pause at a place earlier in the clip, I would have to exit and start all over again – not a big deal in a 10 second clip, but very annoying for something a lot longer.

So there you have it, Apple has completely changed the messaging game by bringing RCS to Messages. We can finally have peace and harmony between Android and iOS, especially as the two mobile platforms get closer and share more features than ever. You can place apps anywhere on your iPhone’s Home screen, change the color of your icons, and react to messages on other platforms. What else is there?

Oh, that’s right, the green bubbles still exist, so Android users will likely still face stigma for choosing a Pixel or Galaxy device over an iPhone. But it does not matter. Now, when you take a great photo of your friends using a Pixel 8 Pro or capture a 50x zoom video on a Galaxy S24 Ultra, you can send it to your friends in its original quality. origin !

Cynicism and irony aside, bringing RCS to Messages is a great feeling. Although I don’t like automatic read receipts, I appreciated having my dad reply to my messages without his reaction sending an extra text, and the typing indicator means I know he’s actually replying rather than doing “dad things”. Maybe one day Android users (like I usually am) will finally stop being judged for their green text bubbles. Until then, this certainly seems like a good start.

But what do you think? Will RCS on iPhone end bullying against green-bubble Android users when it rolls out later this fall? Let us know in the survey below.