What RCS Messaging Between IOS and Android Can and Can’t Do (Yet)
Last year, Apple introduced RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging to iPhone in iOS 18, giving “green bubble” users access to more features. But what exactly is available with RCS on iPhone, and what is still only available to iMessage users? Are Android users fully integrated with RCS messaging in the iOS Messages app?
I’ll go into detail about what you can do in RCS chats between iPhone and Android, as well as explain what features are currently missing and when they might be available. If you have contacts on other mobile platforms, this will help you better understand how it works on their end.
To use RCS, your carrier must support it (most do now ). On iPhone, open Settings, then select Apps > Messages > RCS Messages to enable the feature. In the Google Messages app on Android, tap your profile picture (in the upper-right corner), then select Messages Settings > RCS Chats to enable the feature.
RCS on iOS and Android: What You Can Do
Starting with iOS 18, RCS messaging is officially supported in the iOS Messages app, specifically via the RCS 2.4 universal profile. This brings Android users with the green bubble closer to parity with iMessage users, although some features only work in one direction, and some only in private conversations, not in group chats.
One notable improvement is support for high-resolution photos and videos, which should work seamlessly in all your RCS-enabled conversations, without any compression or transmission issues. Web links also look better, as you’ll now get a proper preview on both Android and iOS, and you can now share your current location (though only as a static pin, not a dynamic, updating one).
Typing indicators and read receipts are supported in both directions if they are enabled on your devices. However, they do not work in group chats. RCS users on Android can now join group chats, but reports indicate that the system may experience bugs , causing typing indicators and read receipts to be lost.
Emoji reactions are now supported to a certain extent, but based on my testing, they only work on iPhone and Android devices. If you try to send an emoji reaction back, iPhone users will simply receive a separate text message with the emoji (it won’t appear as a bubble over the original message).
RCS on iOS and Android: What You Can’t Do (Yet)
Looking at everything you can do in iMessage (with other iMessage users) and Google Messages (with other Android RCS users), it’s clear that cross-platform support is far from complete. For example, you can’t currently unsend messages or reply to chats from either Android to iPhone or iPhone to Android.
You can edit messages, but only if you’re an Android user messaging an iPhone user. The iPhone user will receive two messages (the original and the edited one), which is counterintuitive, to say the least. Editing messages on iPhone is simply not possible in RCS messaging.
Another missing feature is end-to-end encryption for chats and shared files. Apple promised that support for this feature in RCS chats would be coming soon , but it’s not yet available—even in iOS 26. This should make you think twice about sharing sensitive information in such chats.
Full end-to-end encryption is part of RCS Universal Profile 3.0, which Google is testing in beta but Apple hasn’t yet implemented. Once this update finally arrives on iPhone and Android devices, compatibility will reach a new level—theoretically, it should provide full support for message editing, emoji reactions, and inline replies. For now, however, this implementation is rather crude, especially for group chats.