How to Chat With Android Users on IOS 18
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Apple announced a slew of new iOS features during the company’s big keynote at WWDC 2024 , from sweeping changes to Messages to a fully customizable Home screen . But one announcement was simply made without any fanfare from Apple: RCS support.
This wasn’t some sensational new feature: Apple had already confirmed it would bring RCS support to iOS last year. While the company never confirmed a specific rollout timeline, it seemed like iOS 18 would be the time for the company to officially embrace the messaging protocol. As it turns out, this assumption turned out to be correct.
RCS coming to iOS means a lot of things, but one of them is that sending text messages to someone from an Android phone will be much easier. SMS, the current communication protocol between iPhone and Android, is outdated and lacks many of the features that modern messaging protocols come standard with today. This includes high-definition image and video sharing, working group chats and typing indicators, not to mention end-to-end encryption. Instead, you get poor image quality, broken group chats, insecure messaging, and of course, green bubbles.
It took Apple a long time to implement RCS, mainly because it was to their advantage to make messaging with competitors an objectively worse experience. But for a number of reasons, not least because governments around the world are grappling with anti-competitive behavior , RCS will arrive on iOS with iOS 18.
However, if you think this means the end of green bubbles, think again: Apple did show off one screenshot of RCS in action in its iOS 18 feature list , and at first glance you could be forgiven for thinking it typical iPhone-to-version. -Android chat:
Alas, it’s RCS in iOS 18. You can tell because the plant image is actually visible, the Android user sent a voice note, and sure enough, the label in the text box reads: “Text Message • RCS.”
It seems Apple has decided to stick with the green bubbles after all: it wants you to know that you’re not sending text messages on your iPhone, even if it can no longer ruin the experience. Only time will tell if the green bubble stigma will fade into obscurity: Will iPhone users be less judgmental of Android users now that texting them doesn’t suck? Or will they always take the green bubble as a sign that writing to that person will be difficult?
Moreover, will RCS support convince some iPhone users to switch to Android, knowing that their iPhone friends won’t have to deal with SMS anymore? This is Apple’s nightmare, and is probably why it advertises this feature as little as possible.