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

I actually reached out to Verizon to help fix the issue. The next day my RCS was working.

Jayp72 wrote:

I have the 15 pro max

Downloaded the ios update and no options for RCS in message settings

I was previous on Android and my carrier O2 supported RCS

But since this update nothing at all

It's one of the reasons that made me chose this phone over another android becuase with the promice of RCS I could message my friends and family

No idea what's gone wrong but I'm very disappointed

1. Open Settings
2. Tap General
3. Tap About
4. Tap Carrier
5. When you tap Carrier, it will change to IMS Status and show messaging support details to the right

• • If your carrier supports RCS, you’ll see Voice, SMS & RCS
  • If your carrier doesn’t support RCS, you’ll see Voice & SMS

And if your carrier doesn't support RCS, you need to contact them to inquire why or when they will.

I'm on AT&T in the US, and my phone does show RCS as enabled on my iPhone.

Fuzzylobes wrote:

i have the same issue. What I have learned under the about screen in settings, under sim the IMS only allows for sms and voice. While for some a simple restart fixed the problem apparently, in my case it hasn’t fixed it. I have tried network resets, restarting the phone, called between T-Mobile and Apple which one referred me to the other. Ultimately I even had tried deleting my eSIM and downloading a new one while trouble shooting with T-Mobile and that didn’t fix the issue. Only I haven’t done was factory reset the phone and I won’t do it to then find out that doesn’t work too.

I have come down to it that this has to be a software bug and not the carriers.

Nah. If this was a software bug, it would affect everyone. It's not. Something between you and the carrier hasn't been provisioned correctly. This is so new for iPhone. Give it some time. It's working just fine on my iPhone with AT&T.

Go to settings > General > About, and tap on Carrier under ESIM. This will show IMS Status. When RCS was working, it said Voice, SMS, & RCS. Right now it says Voice & SMS. I was able to go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset and Reset Network Settings. This forced my phone to connect to everything and that included RCS. It stayed connected for a day or two and then disconnected again. It's annoying because all of my other Apple devices popped notifications about a new device connected.

I don't know if the problem is a T-Mobile problem or an Apple problem. I just wish someone would fix it because having to reset my network settings every day or two is not the answer.

They'd just need to ask Google for permission. Google might say yes. They might say now. Google layered end-to-end encryption on top of RCS. So, they have their own proprietary extensions on top of RCS. Right now, Apple only supports using carrier RCS servers, which do not offer encryption.

RCS is a federated system, unlike iMessage. So, Apple went with the base features in the spec to ensure maximum compatibility.

amp68 wrote:

Well, if you're on Android, I believe you default to Google's RCS servers (unless the carrier forces you to use theirs), which probably gives Android users a more unified experience.

Various phone manufacturers also include their own messaging apps. Or, you use a third-party app. Which is one of the reasons the Android experience is so much less unified than the iPhone experiencing app.

iOS uses the carrier's RCS servers.

Yes, that's correct.

So, if Google wasn't running their own RCS servers, then Android would probably be in the same RCS **** we're in now.

Personally, I'm not in any sort of ******. I continue to have no issues messaging people who don't use iMessage.

I finally got my work group chat to move away from using SMS/MMS/RCS and now we're using Telegram. We're not looking for secure communication. We just want a group chat with hi-res images and videos and the ability to use rich text. Telegram fits the bill.

Whatever works for you.

If you need to have a group chat with Android users, use ANYTHING ELSE. Don't like Telegram? There's a ton of other free chat clients out there.

Again, I have no problems with SMS. I'm not interested in adding any third-party messaging services. Way too much hassle.

I have been having a similar problem, and finally tracked it down to the fact that, while sitting at my desk, my iPhone is using WiFi to receive text messages ... which is fine when Apple messaging is being used, because Apple sends iMessages via the Internet. Texts from Android phones - at least with some carriers - only go out over the cellular network. The problem is that I have miserable cell coverage at my desk, so as far as the cellphone carriers are concerned, I'm "offline" -- and they inform their senders accordingly.

As soon as I step outside my front door, the iPhone switches to the wireless carrier, and the accumulated messages from Android phones arrive all at once.

As for the RCS/SMS kefuffle, I believe that the phones default to SMS when signal strength is poor, but somebody more knowledgeable than I might know if this is in fact the case. In a group chat, with widely differing signal strengths among the participants, and others possibly on WiFi, it's not surprising that the use of RCS would be inconsistent.

I reconnected my phone to wifi and it hasn’t dropped RCS in over a month. The only difference is that I installed ProtonVPN on my phone and run it 24/7. I don’t know if it makes any sense but I haven’t been on SMS in over a month. The thing I don’t like about Proton is that it is using more battery 24/7.

RCS is carrier dependent. Please speak with your phone carrier to check they support this. Also ask your friend to do the same.

Also, open your setting and see if the VPN is on… if the VPN is active, you won’t be able to send RCS messages.

And this the HUGE problem with RCS. It's VERY carrier dependent. Whether you have it or nor depends on your carrier enabling it, the recipient's carrier enabling it, the recipient's phone supporting it, and the recipient's phone having it turned on.

I think Google made a mistake with picking RCS. They should have picked their own data-only end-to-end encrypted protocol like Apple did with iMessages. That totally bypasses the carrier and gives 100% control to Google.

We all should stop using iMessage/SMS/MMS/RCS and a use a third-party data-only app like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, or any other app out there. Take yourself and the people you talk to out of the carrier's control.

Also don't forget that Apple's implementation of RCS is NOT encrypted. Apple uses the carrier's RCS servers and not Google's.

michelleb19 wrote:

Clearly there are bugs. I hope apple fixes them asap because meanwhile I’m fuming that my husband/kids aren’t replying to me, when all the while my phone is the issue. I have no way of knowing which scenario is correct (because they can’t call me, either, and I’m completely unaware.) Ask any mom of driving teenagers - it is not good when they can’t reach you if there’s an emergency.

Why are you assuming the bugs are Apple’s? There are at least 4 parties involved, and maybe more; Apple, your carrier, your phone manufacturer, and the messaging app that supports RCS (Android requires a separate messaging app for RCS, it does not support RCS natively). And if you have Wi-Fi calling, also your internet provider.

Have you tried troubleshooting? For example, do you have a problem when on Wi-Fi, or when on your cellular network? 4G/LTE or 5G cellular? What about signal strength? Are the problems related to your location or the location of the other parties?

As you point out Android RCS uses Google’s servers, iOS iMessage uses Apple’s servers. Apple was pressured into supporting RCS by the tech media and the nerd herd. Apple’s implementation of RCS uses the industry standard which is via the carriers. It is not the perfect solution it was touted to be. IOS users are finding that out now. They were promised otherwise by the tech media. And of course Apple will NEVER use Google’s servers.

amp68 wrote:

They'd just need to ask Google for permission. Google might say yes. They might say now. Google layered end-to-end encryption on top of RCS. So, they have their own proprietary extensions on top of RCS. Right now, Apple only supports using carrier RCS servers, which do not offer encryption.

In other words, give Google control over pretty much all messaging. Yeah, Apple is not likely to want to do that.

Usmaak wrote:

This just keeps getting worse for me. For a while, the RCS would work for a while and then it would go back to SMS. Eventually it would come back to RCS again. Now I have to reboot my phone and it only stays RCS for an hour or two before reverting. I wish that there was at least a reliable way to get it to come back without having to restart my phone. I also wish that they would have waited to implement it until it was stable.

It is 100% stable on my iPhones. Just MAYBE the problem isn’t with Apple, as hard it is to believe that. There are many steps in the process of delivering RCS in addition to your iPhone:

• Your carrier’s network
• the individual MTSO’s in your carrier’s network, which may or may not have been updated to support RCS
• the carrier’s network of your recipient and its MTSOs
• whether or not the recipient is using an RCS compatible messaging app on Android (which requires a separate app as Android doesn’t support RCS natively)
• whether or not the recipient has a new enough device that supports RCS
• Whether you have cellular data enabled as required
• whether you have any apps installed that can block RCS, most especially VPN