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Everything You Need to Know About RCS Messaging on iPhone
Mar 11, 2025
Article on Cult of Mac: https://www.cultofmac.com/how-to/rcs-messaging More Apple news: http://www.cultofmac.com #RCS messaging is new to the #iPhone bringing modern features to ordinary green bubble texting. Produced by Extra Ordinary for Cult of Mac Music composed by Will Davenport, arranged by D. Griffin Jones Follow us! Threads: https://www.threads.net/@cultofmac Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@cultofmac Instagram: https://instagram.com/cultofmac/ X: https://x.com/cultofmac Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cultofmac
View Video Transcript
0:00
RCS messaging is new to the iPhone
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bringing modern features to ordinary
0:05
green bubble texting here's everything
0:07
you need to
0:09
know so first of all what is RCS and how
0:13
does it compare to iMessage and regular
0:16
SMS texting iMessage is Apple's
0:19
exclusive messaging platform used by the
0:21
messages app iMessage is used anytime
0:23
you're texting another person with an
0:25
Apple device be it an iPhone iPad mac
0:28
Apple watch or Vision Pro
0:30
because iMessage is Apple's own
0:32
proprietary service Apple has added
0:34
loads of advanced features to it over
0:36
the years like stickers games endtoend
0:40
encryption and loads more iMessages are
0:44
always represented by Blue bubbles in
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the messages app SMS is a way of sending
0:48
text messages or low resolution images
0:51
between any two phone numbers it's a
0:54
standard feature among cell phone
0:55
carriers so if you're not texting
0:58
another iPhone via iMessage or you get
1:00
an automated Robo text it's probably SMS
1:04
SMS messages are represented by green
1:06
bubbles in the Apple messages app RCS is
1:09
the new Modern Standard which meets
1:11
somewhere in the middle between iMessage
1:13
and SMS it has modern features like read
1:16
receipts typing indicators support for
1:18
higher resolution images and so much
1:21
more green bubble texting just got a lot
1:24
better so to use RCS you need to be
1:26
running iOS or iPad OS 18 Mac OS 15
1:30
sequa or later if you're watching this
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in the future check that RCS is enabled
1:35
in settings apps messages by checking
1:39
RCS messaging if that option isn't there
1:42
it's possible your cell carrier doesn't
1:44
support it you can check in settings
1:47
General about carrier IMS status should
1:51
say Voice SMS and RCS the person you're
1:54
texting will also need to meet the same
1:56
requirements a compatible cell carrier
1:59
and a compatible device RCS is generally
2:03
supported on Android but specific
2:05
devices software and texting apps may
2:08
vary Google Voice for example doesn't
2:11
support RCS now let's run down some of
2:13
the top features of RCs typing
2:16
indicators let the other person know
2:18
when you're in the middle of composing a
2:19
text and read receipts let the other
2:22
person know when you've read their text
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by default RCS messages match the same
2:27
setting you already have set for
2:29
iMessage
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you can change this in settings apps
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messages by enabling or disabling send
2:37
read receipts you can also customize it
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per person if you want read receipts off
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for everybody except your partner or you
2:44
want read receipts on for everybody
2:47
except your boss from the messages app
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tap on a contact's name at the top of
2:51
the screen and then set send read
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receipts to your preferred setting one
2:55
of the biggest advantages of RCs is that
2:58
images can be sent out a much higher
3:00
resolution and videos are no longer
3:03
compressed to the size of a postage
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stamp here's a quick Pro tip for you tap
3:08
and hold on the plus button to jump
3:10
straight into your photo library and you
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can swipe up for a full-size browser
3:15
select as many photos and videos as you
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want and just tap send voice recordings
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and voice memos can also be sent over
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RCS tap the plus button and tap audio
3:25
and it'll jump straight into recording
3:28
you can tap stop when you're done and
3:29
you can play it back delete it or send
3:32
it along you can also share files like
3:34
PDFs Word documents spreadsheets and
3:37
more any attachment can be up to 100
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megabytes in size you can send documents
3:42
or files anywhere you see the system
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share sheet if you're in a group
3:46
conversation and everyone's phone
3:47
numbers support RCS you'll be able to
3:50
give a custom group name and photo tap
3:53
the group name on the top and tap change
3:56
name and photo you can type in whatever
3:58
you want and for the picture you can
4:00
take one using the camera you can choose
4:02
one from your photo library or pick an
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emoji tap done and it'll change the name
4:07
and photo for everyone in the group but
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anyone else will be able to change and
4:12
edit it as well this feature is popular
4:14
among those with imessage and on other
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platforms like Snapchat and Facebook
4:19
Messenger you can set the conversation
4:21
to the name of a road trip that's coming
4:22
up an inside joke or you can take a more
4:26
literal approach one of the best changes
4:28
behind the scenes is that RCS can work
4:30
over Wi-Fi not just cellular if you're
4:33
taking a train or a long flight you may
4:36
not have a cell signal but there might
4:38
be onboard Wi-Fi and you can connect to
4:41
your Android friends on Wi-Fi alone
4:44
unfortunately this does not mean that
4:46
your Mac will be able to do RCS
4:48
messaging on its own it still depends on
4:50
text message forwarding from your iPhone
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this is because RCS much like SMS still
4:58
requires an eim and phone number which
5:00
your Mac doesn't have at least yet last
5:03
but not least RCS messages don't come
5:06
with the Steep International pricing
5:08
that SMS messages do this is because RCS
5:12
messages are delivered freely over the
5:14
internet rather than by the cell carrier
5:16
proprietary SMS delivery system while
5:20
many of those in the United States have
5:22
unlimited talk text and data plans many
5:25
people internationally or those with
5:26
budget phone plans still pay per
5:29
individual text message and RCS can help
5:32
reduce that cost so those are the great
5:36
new features of RCs messaging you can
5:39
check out this video here for more new
5:41
features and messages remember to like
5:43
And subscribe I'm Dean Jones with Cult
5:46
of Mac
#Consumer Electronics
#Email & Messaging
#Mobile Apps & Add-Ons
#Text & Instant Messaging
#Voice & Video Chat