I tried RCS messages between iPhone and Android: this is how it works

After many ads and years of appeals to Google, RCS has finally arrived on Apple’s Messages app. At the moment, it’s only available as part of the second iOS 18 beta, ahead of Q4’s full rollout, but for adventurous beta testers, it’s actually here. So, I did what any good journalist would do (especially one using Verizon, AT&T, or T-Cell because they’re the only supported carriers) — I turned on an iPhone and the most tech-savvy person Texted. Know: My father. Most of all, what could go wrong in explaining what I wanted so he could test RCS on messages for himself for the first time? Strange, literally nothing.

Before I could use my Android-using father as an RCS guinea pig, I had to do a few things. The first was to let him know I’d passed my phone number around – a courtesy because he gets emails from Verizon whenever I do (sorry, Dad).

The second was to opt into Apple’s developer program, bring an iPhone 14 Plus test unit out of the launch and outfit it with an untouched iOS 18 beta. Those two steps took about three times as long as the rest of the process (which also included running my father through the different ways I wanted him to respond to messages).

Next, it was time to jump into the RCS-powered era, and through it, I simply flipped a toggle in the Settings app. It’s worth noting that that’s all there is currently for beta testers in the latest version.

From there, it was time to send my first RCS text message on the iPhone, so I thought I’d start with a very simple message – a quip about Apple after receiving the message. Next, it’s time to check out some RCS basics: the ability to react to messages and send read receipts from Android to iOS. I requested my dad to respond to my first message, and he sent a thumbs up to both my latest message and my request for a response. Each of the responses came out smoothly and immediately, a huge improvement compared to iOS 17 and the generic SMS alerts used, and pretty close to what we see from Apple’s iMessage carrier among Apple gadgets.

I additionally noticed that I don’t need to check receipts learned through RCS – they are on by default. There also doesn’t appear to be any way to turn them off as there’s only one toggle for the entire RCS settings, so you’re either in or out. Personally, I’m hoping Apple provides a feature to toggle nearby learning receipts, as I don’t generally attribute them, although this is a beta tool, at the forefront.

The optional highlight of bringing RCS to Messages is the ability to send full-resolution movies and photos from Android to iOS, just like you can do with iMessage between iPhones. At best, there’s nothing worse than having a friend take a great photo of you so they can send it to you in low resolution. So, I requested my dad to send me a photo and a video clip, and he did it in a way only a dad could – a comic book about brewing beer and checking out the gutters in the area. A video of myself growing up.

When I finished shaking my head, I saw that both had come the same way as if they had been sent from another iPhone. The comedian happened to be absolutely sunny, and the video came out much better than the Patterson-Gimlin resolution I often get when he sends me a clip. This is a huge development compared to the old struggles on both SMS and MMS sides and a sign that Google was probably right all along.

RCS on iPhones also lets you send your existing ready-made stickers and GIFs from Apple’s #Photograph library, so I sent each of those to my dad. Sadly, it doesn’t appear that Apple has simply sorted out the reactions to them, as in response I was given the dreaded “thumbs up for a GIF” and “thumbs up for a photo.” Apparently, when I reacted to the video my father sent, it was a ‘thumbs up’ on my part, but a crude textual response on his part.

So, happiness is not at its highest yet. Of course, iOS 18 is still under construction, although I met another suddenly hiccupping generation receiving video clips from my father. Despite the fact that I had minor problems opening and starting clips, there were different ways to control them once they started playing. The game play button disappears almost immediately, and Apple’s usual slider around the base edge is nowhere to be found. If I want to travel back and rest at an old spot in the clip, I have to swipe out of it and start all over again – no major flaw in the 10-second clip, but enough to worry about. Too long for anything else.

So, you’re in for the ride – Apple has completely changed the messaging game by bringing RCS to Messages. We can have sleep and team spirit between Android and iOS in any situation, especially as the two mobile platforms come closer together and share more features than ever before. You can place apps anywhere on your iPhone’s home display screen, change the color of their icons, and respond to messages on different platforms. what else is there?

Oh, well, the green bubbles still exist, so Android users will still face stigma for choosing Pixel or Galaxy software over iPhone. That’s fine despite this fact. Now, when you snap a great photo of your friends using the Pixel 8 Pro or capture a video at 50x zoom on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, you’ll be able to send it to your friends in its Refresh component!

Skepticism and cynicism aside, it feels great to bring RCS to the messages. Even I don’t like the automatic learned receipts, I enjoyed the method of sending extra text and typing pointers to my dad without him replying to my messages, I know he is far from actually doing “Dad”. Answering instead of staying. Things.” Perhaps in a future, Android users (as I usually am) will refuse to be judged for green textual content bubbles in any case. Up close, this undoubtedly looks like an excellent start.

What do you think though? Will RCS on iPhone end up bullying Green Bubble Android customers when it launches near Q4? Let us know in the ballot below.