What RCS Messaging Between iOS and Android Can and Can't Do (Yet)

Apple brought RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging to the iPhone with iOS 18 last year, giving green-bubble users access to more features and functions. But what exactly is possible with RCS on the iPhone, and what is still exclusive to iMessage users? Are Android RCS users now fully integrated into chats in the iOS Messages app or not?

I'll lay out exactly what you can do in RCS chats between iPhones and Android phones, and explain which features are still missing—and when you might be able to get them. If you've got contacts on other mobile platforms, this should help you understand more about what the experience is like from their end.

To use RCS, you must have a carrier that supports it (most now do). On an iPhone, open Settings, then choose Apps > Messages > RCS Messaging to enable it. In Google Messages on Android, tap your profile picture (top right), then choose Messages settings and RCS chats to turn on the feature.

RCS on iOS and Android: what you can do

Ever since iOS 18, RCS messaging has officially been supported in the iOS Messages app—specifically, via the RCS Universal Profile 2.4. This brings green bubble Android users closer to parity with iMessage users, though some features only work in one direction, and some features only work in one-to-one conversations and not group chats.

One notable upgrade is support for high-resolution photos and videos, which should work seamlessly across all your RCS-enabled conversations, with no more issues around compression or transfer. Web links look better as well, because you'll get a proper preview shown on both Android and iOS, and you can share current locations too (though only as a static pin, not a live and updating one).

Web links now look much better between iOS and Android. Credit: Lifehacker

Typing indicators and read receipts are supported in both directions, assuming you've got them enabled on your devices. However, they don't work in group chats—RCS users on Android can now join group chats, but the experience can be buggy based on reports, and you lose the typing indicators and the read receipts.

Emoji reactions are now supported, up to a point—but based on my testing, these only work from iPhone to Android. If you try and send an emoji reaction in the other direction, iPhone users will just get a separate text showing the emoji (it won't appear as a bubble on top of the original message).

RCS on iOS and Android: what you can't do (yet)

If you look at everything you can do in iMessage (with other iMessage users) and Google Messages (with other Android RCS users), you'll realize there's a long way to go when it comes to cross-platform support. For example, at the moment you can't unsend messages, or reply inline in a thread, either from Android to iPhone or iPhone to Android.

You can edit messages, but only if you're an Android user messaging an iPhone user—and with the caveat that the iPhone user gets two texts (the original message and the edited message, which rather defeats the point). The ability to edit messages on an iPhone simply doesn't appear in an RCS conversation.

Message editing is something that doesn't quite work yet. Credit: Lifehacker

Another missing feature is end-to-end encryption for your chats and files shared in them. Apple has promised that support for this in RCS conversations is on the way, though it hasn't shown up yet—not even in iOS 26. This should give you pause when it comes to sharing sensitive information in these chats.

Full end-to-end encryption is part of the RCS Universal Profile 3.0, which Google is testing in beta and which Apple has yet to adopt. Once this next update finally makes its way to iPhones and Android devices, interoperability will be leveled up again—it should, in theory, bring with it full support for message editing, emoji reactions, and inline replies. Until then, it's something of a half-baked implementation, especially for group chats.

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