Why is RCS not working between my iPhone running iOS 18 and Android?

My phone says vpn not connected

Having the same issue with non-iPhone users. I’ve restarted, hard reset, made sure RCS is enabled, and reset network settings, which worked for a bit. Still having the same issue. APPLE FIX THIS

No. All your info stays the same, but it didn’t fix the issue for me.

exact same issue here. Don't know what has happened

My RSC stop waking

I am having the same problem again happened 2 months ago... when last update... phone updated .. turned phone of res off and on iMessage ok.. not droid... same for compturer

Then you have to wait for your carrier to activate it, or call them and ask if they support RCS. And see the post above yours from amp68.

And you should read this→What is the difference between iMessage, RCS, and SMS/MMS? - Apple Support

Noting especially:

If you aren’t using iMessage, you can use RCS. RCS text messages can be sent to non-Apple devices as well as another iPhone or another Apple device with Text Message Forwarding turned on. With RCS, you can send texts, high resolution photos and videos, links, and more. RCS also supports delivery and read receipts and typing indicators. RCS messages appear in green text bubbles on your device.

Apple’s implementation of RCS is based on the industry’s standard. RCS messages aren’t end-to-end encrypted, which means they're not protected from a third-party reading them while they're sent between devices.

RCS is a carrier-provided service. When your device connects to your cellular network, it communicates with your carrier and their partners to set up RCS. User identifiers are exchanged for your carrier and their partners to authenticate your device and provide a connection. These identifiers could include but are not limited to your IMEI, IMSI, current IP address, and phone number. Your current IP address might also be shared with other RCS users.

To use RCS, you need iOS 18 and a text-messaging plan from a carrier that supports RCS on iPhone. Contact your wireless carrier for more information.



To turn RCS on or off, go to Settings > Apps > Messages > RCS Messaging.

Learn whether your carrier supports RCS messaging on iPhone

Fuzzylobes wrote:

My other lines that family members use iPhones have their RCS Messages work flawlessly. My line is the one with the problem and even under eSIM it shows only Voice and SMS is provided for service and not RCS.

That probably means that your line was not provisioned correctly in the carrier’s network. Call them and request that they either add the feature or reprovision your account.

OR it means that you do not have Cellular Data enabled on your iPhone. MMS and RCS (and Visual Voicemail) require cellular data to work, they cannot use Wi-Fi.

OR it means that you have a corrupt VPN profile.

Remember, RCS is a cellular carrier service, not an Apple service. Turning off WiFi means your iPhone is forced to use its carrier signal. Do you have Wi-Fi-Calling enabled on your iPhone? Who is your carrier? Does your carrier even support WiFi Calling? WiFi Calling means your phone will attempt to make phone calls over the WiFi network it’s connected to instead of the cellular carrier you use. You should not have to turn off WiFi altogether to use RCS. This sounds purely like your carrier is at fault here. And as you have noticed in the post just below yours @Fuzzylobes switched from T-mobile to AT&T and RCS is working fine now. Again, this is a Cellular carrier issue, NOT an Apple issue.

Settings->Cellular->Wi-Fi-Calling. If it’s on try turning it off. If it’s off try turning it on. Test

For what’s it’s worth, my carrier is AT&T, I have WiFi calling enabled, and RCS works just fine for me.

Mine works but it’s really slow and goes out all the time and fails to send maybe apple will fix it I have disabled the feature as it’s not as good as it is on android .

Rcs messaging