iOS 18 RCS Support Rolling Out to Beta Users

With the second beta of iOS 18 that came out yesterday, Apple added an RCS toggle, but RCS messaging was not working at that time. ‌RCS‌ support appears to now be rolling out, based on reports from ‌iOS 18‌ users.

ios 18 beta 2 rcs toggle
Some testers who have ‌iOS 18‌ installed have confirmed that they are able to send ‌RCS‌ messages to Android users, with ‌RCS‌ features available. Texts that are RCS-based instead of SMS/MMS-based are denoted with an ‌RCS‌ label.


‌RCS‌, or Rich Communication Services, allows iPhone and Android users to exchange higher quality photos and videos, audio messages, and larger file sizes. Features like read receipts and real-time typing indicators are supported too, with a full list of what's new available below.

  • Support for higher resolution photos and videos.
  • Support for larger file sizes and file sharing.
  • Audio messages.
  • Cross-platform emoji reactions.
  • Real-time typing indicators.
  • Read receipts.
  • Ability to send messages over cellular or Wi-Fi (SMS is cellular only). There is no cost to send an ‌RCS‌ message over Wi-Fi.
  • Improved group chats.

‌RCS‌ messages can be enabled in the Messages section of the Settings app, and are toggled on by default. At the current time, ‌RCS‌ messaging is only available to those in the United States who have a carrier that supports ‌RCS‌. T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon users running ‌iOS 18‌ should have the ‌RCS‌ toggle available, but those with MVNOs and smaller carriers will not be able to use the feature yet.

Not all ‌iOS 18‌ users with T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon are seeing ‌RCS‌ enabled, so it appears that support is still rolling out.

‌iOS 18‌ is available in a beta capacity right now, and it is limited to developers. ‌RCS‌ will be available to all ‌iOS 18‌ users when the software launches to the public this fall.

Related Roundups: iOS 18, iPadOS 18
Related Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18

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Top Rated Comments

GMShadow Avatar
11 months ago
Glad it's a toggle. I can turn it off and keep green bubble people in the dark where they belong.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
applefanboysince93 Avatar
11 months ago

The burning question is...

Will RCS messages have blue bubbles or green?
Blue denotes iMessage and RCS isn’t iMessage so…
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0920730 Avatar
11 months ago
I see the toggle (and it's on) but the couple people I know who do use Androids are still showing SMS. I've built the suspicion in my mind that Android users have cooties, so I've surrounded myself with mostly blue bubble people.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
applefanboysince93 Avatar
11 months ago

Typing indicator, read receipts and reactions are all working between my work iPhone 13 and personal Pixel 8 Pro. Also very happy to report that video taken on iPhone and sent over RCS is not compressed anymore and playing back in HDR on Pixel 8 Pro. Now I just wanna convince the wife to let me update her 15 Pro so I can stop having her use WhatsApp to send me videos.
Beta on the wife? Never heard of happy wife happy life? Haha, tread carefully…
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
arthurgd3 Avatar
11 months ago

(either they’re unenthusiastic about tech or can’t afford Apple products)
You forgot the 3rd possibility, not everyone loves Apple or iOS. I've daily driven iPhones before and I don't like/enjoy using iOS nor do I like Apple's business practices.

That doesn't mean I wholeheartedly endorse Google's business practices either but Android is my lesser of two evils choice mainly because of the freedom it allows me within Android. I'm in IT but before I had an interest in IT, I was always interested in tech and I can still be interested in Apple and acknowledge when they do something I like without making them my personal computing choice.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
InnocenceMyth Avatar
11 months ago

Is this mainly a thing used in the US since the rest of the world is just using WhatsApp? I honestly don’t remember the last time I sent an SMS. Probably 15 years ago so this whole concept of sending a “text” to android users is foreign to me.
Every time SMS or RCS is discussed, someone comes along and says "what is this? I use WhatsApp". Good for you, keep using it, move along.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)