With the second beta of iOS 27, Apple added support for replying to a specific message in an RCS conversation with an Android user.
You can now long press on a message to get to the option to reply, and it works the same way that it does with iMessage.
iOS 27 also displays tapback/reaction emoji to images and videos properly. In iOS 26, it would use a text descriptor, such as [x loved an image] instead of showing the emoji. In iOS 27, the emoji shows up on the image or video as it does in an iMessage conversation.
Apple added support for RCS in iOS 18, and has been improving it since then. iOS 26.5 added encryption for RCS messages sent between iPhone and Android users, and now more of the RCS features are being implemented.
For RCS reply threading to work properly, both the sender and the recipient need to have a smartphone and carrier that supports RCS.
iOS 27 is limited to developers currently, but it will be available to the public when Apple releases a public beta in July. The software will see an official launch in September.
Apple will release iOS 27 in September, and despite the company's focus this year on refining its flagship operating system and nixing bugs, there are still many additional features on the way, not least of which is Apple's new context-aware Siri, re-tooled for the generative AI era.
This year's major iPhone software update isn't all about AI, though, as the following feature list...
If you pay for certain iCloud+ storage plans beyond the 5GB that Apple offers for free, you will receive two more perks on iOS 27 at no additional cost.
A summary of the two new iCloud+ perks on iOS 27:Increased daily usage limits for some new Apple Intelligence features, including image generation in the revamped Image Playground app.
HomeKit Secure Video cameras receive generated video...
Apple developed more for its next-generation software updates than it revealed at WWDC last week, with three features already present in internal builds being deliberately withheld from the public announcement, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Writing in the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman says all three missing features are active in internal versions of Apple's...
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
