Last month, Apple released iOS 18 developer beta 2 and it quietly included one of the most anticipated features of all time on any iPhone — native support for RCS. After all these years of anticipation and buzzing around, 9to5Mac reported that the developer preview included a toggle for RCS, albeit it only supported a handful of carriers, that too, only U.S. carriers.
However, things are changing with the latest iOS 18 developer beta 3 update and changing for the better. This is the first time Apple is finally supporting more carriers around the globe. This means Canadian users with Videotron, Telus Mobility, and Bell; Spanish users with Telefonica; French users with SFR; and Germans with O2 can finally use the RCS messaging on their iPhones.
You probably know how much everyone wanted RCS on iPhones and why. If you don’t, I can explain why people wanted it. It’s because RCS messaging comes as a savior especially when you (an iPhone user) are interacting with your friend who prefers Android (even when Microsoft warns its employees against using it, though I’ll leave that detail to speak for itself).
With RCS, you and your Android friend can exchange messages with audio and larger media files. Plus, you also see those read receipts using RCS. Certainly, some areas need refinement and seek a polish, but things will be better than ever with the final release of iOS 18 during the fall. All in all, RCS enables many iMessage-like features which you can take advantage of even when chatting with an Android friend. The only thing it doesn’t solve is the green vs. blue bubble divide, as the messages continue to appear in green bubbles.
If you’re using iOS 18 developer beta, you can enable RCS by heading to Settings > Apps > Messages.