RCS on iPhone rolling out to more carriers with iOS 18 beta 3

As we reported last month, the second beta of iOS 18, released to developers, finally enabled support for RCS messaging on iPhone, but only for select U.S. carriers. Now, with iOS 18 beta 3, released Monday, Apple is enabling RCS for more carriers around the world.

RCS on iPhone with iOS 18

As seen by 9to5Mac In iOS 18 beta 3, the update brings RCS support to iPhone for more carriers. And for the first time, RCS support is rolling out to overseas countries.

For example, Videotron, Telus Mobility, and Bell customers in Canada can now enjoy RCS on an iPhone running the latest iOS 18 beta. This also applies to Telefonica in Spain, SFR in France, and O2 in Germany. In the United States, the feature works with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

With RCS, iPhone users can send rich messages with audio and larger media files to Android users. RCS also offers delivery receipts, a feature that was previously exclusive to iMessage and other instant messaging apps. While RCS messages still have green bubbles, the Messages app will display the label “Text Message – RCS” in the conversation.

If you’ve already updated your iPhone to the latest iOS 18 beta and are using one of these carriers, you can try turning on RCS by going to Settings > Apps > Messages. If you don’t see the RCS button, it’s likely because your carrier doesn’t yet provide RCS support on iPhone.

Carriers must provide an updated set of settings to enable RCS on the iPhone, and these sets are coming with new iOS betas. This means more carriers will be able to enable RCS support before iOS 18 is officially released this fall.

iOS 18 is currently available in beta, while a public beta will be released next month.

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