One of the features that iOS 18 introduced was RCS messaging, which was a highly-requested feature that iPhone users have wanted for years. Now that the second developer beta of iOS 18 was released yesterday, beta users were quick to discover that RCS support is now rolling out since they’ve confirmed that they are able to send RCS messages to Android users. Text messages will be denoted with an RCS label whenever iPhone users are going to send an RCS-based message.
Rich Communication Services (RCS), is an improved messaging standard that brings several features that are much more in line with features that Apple’s iMessage standard has had since its debut in 2011. Several improvements include:
- Support for higher-resolution photos and videos
- Support for larger file sizes and file sharing
- Audio messages
- Cross-platform emoji tapbacks and reactionsÂ
- Real-time typing indicators
- Read receipts
- Ability to send messages over Wi-Fi without any additional cost
- Full-featured group messaging
- Location sharing
RCS messaging will be enabled by default when users upgrade to iOS 18, and they can toggle that option in the Messages section of the Settings app. It’s worth noting that RCS support is currently available for only major US-based carriers, with additional support slowly rolling out to other MVNOs and smaller carriers in the future.
iOS 18 is available as a developer beta, and the public beta will likely debut next month with a public release later this fall.
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