I have a conversation with my son on my iPhone and it says in the text input area: "Text + RCS." The same conversation on MacOS Messages says "Text + SMS".
Does this mean that MacOS 15 does not support RCS? If so, that's just beyond disappointing.
MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 15.0
I need to send a message ON MY IPHONE for it to change to Text - RCS. If I send a message on my Mac or iPad, it stays as Text - SMS. Once I send one message to an Android user on my iPhone, the conversation changes to Text - RCS on all my devices and I can use RCS from now on. I think if I send a message on my Mac, and then check the chat on the iPhone, it will flip to RCS. But I need to open the chat on the iPhone for it to change to RCS.
I'm in several group chats and we have a few iPhone users that won't update until 18.1 comes out, so all those group chats are stuck at SMS/MMS levels. Very frustrating.
I wish US users would do what the rest of the planet does and get the heck off of Messages/SMS/MMS/RCS and use Signal/WhatsApp/WeChat/Telegram.
But since we Americans seem too stubborn, I'm glad RCS is here. But RCS is here under malicious compliance. Apple implemented RCS as written in the original spec detailed in 2007/2008. Since then, Google has layered end-to-end encryption on top of RCS. Sadly, Apple did not choose to implement that.
I really wish RCS chats would have a different color bubble from green. It would be nice for Messages to be blue, SMS to be green, and RCS to be Orange. I'd also like to see Apple implement Google's end-to-end encryption on top of RCS, and give that an orange bubble with a small padlock.
Clearly Messages is the most feature rich of all these protocols. But it's nice that RCS is here so I don't have hald the images I send end up not delivered.
I need to send a message ON MY IPHONE for it to change to Text - RCS. If I send a message on my Mac or iPad, it stays as Text - SMS. Once I send one message to an Android user on my iPhone, the conversation changes to Text - RCS on all my devices and I can use RCS from now on. I think if I send a message on my Mac, and then check the chat on the iPhone, it will flip to RCS. But I need to open the chat on the iPhone for it to change to RCS.
I'm in several group chats and we have a few iPhone users that won't update until 18.1 comes out, so all those group chats are stuck at SMS/MMS levels. Very frustrating.
I wish US users would do what the rest of the planet does and get the heck off of Messages/SMS/MMS/RCS and use Signal/WhatsApp/WeChat/Telegram.
But since we Americans seem too stubborn, I'm glad RCS is here. But RCS is here under malicious compliance. Apple implemented RCS as written in the original spec detailed in 2007/2008. Since then, Google has layered end-to-end encryption on top of RCS. Sadly, Apple did not choose to implement that.
I really wish RCS chats would have a different color bubble from green. It would be nice for Messages to be blue, SMS to be green, and RCS to be Orange. I'd also like to see Apple implement Google's end-to-end encryption on top of RCS, and give that an orange bubble with a small padlock.
Clearly Messages is the most feature rich of all these protocols. But it's nice that RCS is here so I don't have hald the images I send end up not delivered.
RCS (Rich Communication Services) is IP-based, meaning it requires Wi-Fi or cellular data for use. Traditional SMS/MMS messages do not support RCS, as those protocols rely on the carrier's standard text messaging service, which is not internet-based.
How Messages "sync" across Mac and iPhone:
For RCS to work on a Mac, like SMS/MMS, it would require Text Message Forwarding. In addition, the iPhone would need both a phone number (as the unique identifier) and an internet connection (Wi-Fi or cellular data). The iPhone acts as a relay for RCS messages, identifying the sender and receiver using the phone number, and then sending the message over the carrier’s RCS network.
Yep. Another reason to use Signal/WhatsApp/WeChat/Telegram/Anything_Else.
I remember when RCS first rolled out. Carriers would not talk to each other over RCS. You could RCS from one Verizon customer to another Verizon customer. But Verizon→AT&T used SMS/MMS. I think the carriers were trying to do some kind of carrier lock in after they saw how Blackberry Messenger kept people on the Blackberry platform.
Apple took the right path and just bypassed the carriers completely. And Google could have done the same thing, if they didn't switch messaging platforms every few years. I remember going from Google Chat→Google Hangout→Allo/Duo→Google Messenger→RCS. People criticize Apple for not supporing RCS sooner. But nobody paid attention to RCS until Google started supporting it. And I'm sure Apple engineers sat there and said "I wonder how long this one will be around?" And I think they only got the carriers to support it because they agreed to run their own RCS servers, so there would be no cost to the carriers.
Meanwhile, Apple came out with Messages and stuck with, constantly updating it.
Oh my...wow. This fixed it for me. Incredible. I spent an entire afternoon trying to figure this out. Well done.
For those that are still dealing with this, i think i may have figured out the solution. Once you're logged in to iCloud on both your iPhone and Mac, go into Messages settings on your phone and turn off "Send as Text Message", then make sure your Mac is turned on inside the Text Message Forwarding tab. After turning off iCloud and back on again, rather than showing up as "Sent at Text Message" for Android messages, it shows as "Text Message - RCS".
Not sure if anyone mentioned this before, but I was having this same trouble with a new Mac mini and I realized that you need to have 'Find My Mac' enabled, and it wasn't.
On your phone, if you go into settings for the Messages app, you will see a toggle for 'Text Message Forwarding'. If you don't see your device in there, it may be because Find My... is not enabled for that device, and it needs to be. I went back to my device, enabled 'Find My' for it, and now messages are being sent and received properly.
Hope this helps!
You have to be logged into iCloud to use RCS on a Mac.
You might want to try turning off the Firewall and see if that helps any.
I fixed this. I went to settings on my phone and turned on text message forwarding to my MacBook and turned off Send as SMS. And now no problem sending RCS texts to Androids.
Do you have iCloud enable on you Mac as well as your iPhone when you see and it says "Text + RCS? The reason I ask is that I am running neither Mac or iPhone on iCloud and no where does either show RCS.
YES! I came across that in some other article after I posted here. and that seems to be it. but my friend is an idiot and wouldn't be able to follow what I'm saying lol!
I've been having issues that I can send RCS just fine on my iPhone, but my MacBook Pro (even though it says "Text + RCS") it still doesn't send it and errors out. Luckily it syncs the fail to the iPhone and you can send it manually there via RCS or SMS and it seems to work fine. But I would say there appears be an issue on MacOS15 Messages not working properly with RCS.
I thought it was the other way.
SMS/MMS = Uses traditional circuit-switched network.
RCS / iMessage = Packet-switched network. (Mobile Data / Wifi). IP Based Core
This is why RCS can do encryption, bigger photos etc... it's using an entirely different Protocol.
RCS is IP-based and doesn't use the packet-switched network. I don't see why it couldn't use WiFi for communication. You need to hit an RCS server in order to send an RCS message.
RCS is tied to your phone number, though, unlike iMessage, which is tied to your AppleID.
I've found what you described, works sometimes, and then goes back to failing others.
I have done iPhone Mirroring, just to respond to a long chat. But that's really a stupid work around also.
If Shortcuts, had a toggle on/off for this. it would be at least a method to quickly adjust. But I couldn't find that in the Controls anywhere.
Messages on MacOS 15 not doing RCS
