RCS message: missing links for iPhone users

IOS 18 has been released for more than five months, which means Android and iPhone users can finally experience the RCS messaging feature. However, not all users can enjoy this convenience. Some small carriers still don’t support RCS, and Apple seems to be responsible for that.

The importance of RCS

Before discussing the attribution of responsibility, let’s understand what exactly RCS is and why its broad support is so important. RCS is actually an upgraded version of the old SMS standard, which makes the traditional SMS experience closer to modern instant messaging applications.

RCS features include viewing the input status of the other party, read receipts (if enabled), emoticon responses, and higher quality photos and videos. For iPhone users, RCS may sound a lot like iMessage—and so is it. But the advantage of RCS is that you can enjoy these features with your Android friends as well.

The key is that it is crucial to have as many devices as possible support RCS. It greatly improves the SMS experience between iPhone and Android phones, but this will not be possible if iPhone users of some carriers cannot enable RCS.

What US carriers do not support RCS in their iPhones?

Apple provides a complete list of iPhone carrier support and features across regions on its global website. There are over 40 operators in the U.S. and surprisingly, a considerable number of them still lack the “RCS Message” feature. Large operators – AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon – have all supported it, but many of their MVNOs are not. Here are some of the more popular MVNOs that are still missing RCS support on iPhone:

• Cox Mobile
• Google Fi Wireless (not listed at all)
• Mint Mobile
• Simple Mobile
• Ting
• Ultra Mobile

Last December, the iOS update extended RCS support to many small carriers, such as Boost Mobile and Visible. However, there are still users who cannot use the RCS feature on their iPhone because of the carrier they use. By the way, all of these carriers’ Android devices support RCS – it’s purely an iPhone issue.

The first time I noticed this was my partner switching from T-Mobile to Google Fi in January. Before that, RCS messages were available between her iPhone and my Android phone, but then suddenly it was out of service. It was then that I realized that we were not the only users affected.

Authorization of responsibility?

Let's discuss the issue of responsibility. Who should we blame? Is it Google because they run Google Fi? Or Apple? According to Google, it's all up to Apple. The company said in a statement to 9to5Google last September:

"We have been working to speed up RCS adoption for a long time and are excited about Apple's steps to adopt RCS when it launches iOS 18. After the launch, Fi users using Android phones will be able to communicate RCS through iPhone users with RCS interoperability enabled. Only Apple can enable RCS interoperability for iPhone users on Fi, and we hope they can do that in the near future."

This sounds simple and clear, but Google is not an example of honesty and reliable. It's the same as other companies. While researching this issue, I found some conflicting views claiming that Google (and other MVNOs) must enable it on its own. But that makes no sense to me. Why did Google spend years trying to get Apple to adopt RCS, but it would exclude customers on its iPhone?

The answer is, they won't do that. This is indeed Apple's behavior, and it's related to the carrier bundle. Carrier bundles are essentially a collection of settings and customizations related to a specific carrier. Such as voicemail numbers, MMS and APN settings, network sharing, etc. When someone activates the SIM card, the iPhone gets the corresponding bundle to make it work properly.

So it seems that Apple does not include RCS messages in all its carrier bundles. Google Fi and other MVNOs that are not directly owned by the three major networks are most likely to use a universal universal carrier bundle that does not contain RCS messages. Large carriers and their subsidiaries have custom carrier bundles.

This is why there are RCS messages on iPhones with T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile, while Google Fi and Mint Mobile using the T-Mobile network do not. Until these unsupported carriers get their own custom bundles, they are likely to still be unable to use RCS.

The situation is not that simple

Unfortunately, the situation is not as simple as I thought. A lot of information about carrier bundles is not disclosed. I'm not entirely clear about how the relationship between Apple and the carrier works, but Apple may not be the only party responsible.

Some people claim that carriers need to pay to register their custom bundles before they can be provided to mobile phone manufacturers, such as Apple. If the carrier does not pay for a custom bundle, use a universal bundle. Google Fi is said to be one of the operators that do not pay for custom profiles.

There are other statements that this is related to selling iPhones. Some people say that operators need to sell a certain number of iPhones before Apple will implement custom carrier bundles. Others claim it all depends on whether or not an iPhone is sold – Google Fi does not sell iPhones – but Mint Mobile and some other MVNOs without RCS support do sell iPhones. All this is just speculation.

At the end of the day, all we really know is what Google says on this issue, but one thing is for sure: It's very bad for customers. RCS has been available on iPhone for over five months, but there are still some people who can’t use it, which is incredibly frustrating. Someone needs to solve this problem as soon as possible.

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