Insights
Everything to know about Apple RCS support in 2025
Insights
Share to
After years of relying on SMS and MMS to send messages between iPhone and Android devices, Apple has recently taken a major step in modernizing cross-platform messaging by rolling out support for Rich Communication Services (RCS). RCS brings high-quality media sharing, read receipts, typing indicators, and other interactive features for Apple users texting Android users, and vice versa.
For businesses, Apple RCS support opens the door for the ability to turn simple text messaging into an interactive, branded experience across devices. Unlike SMS, which is limited to 160 characters of plain text per message, RCS supports interactive business messaging features like carousels, buttons, and verified sender profiles to offer a more secure, engaging way to communicate.
This article breaks down everything we know about Apple’s RCS rollout, including timeline, supported features, and what it means for both users and businesses.
Remember when Apple CEO Tim Cook suggested a reporter should buy his mom an iPhone rather than Apple adopt RCS? That was then. This is now.
Apple’s journey to supporting RCS has been anything but straightforward. For years, the tech giant resisted adopting the RCS messaging standard. Instead, Apple favored its iMessage ecosystem, ensuring a distinct – and occasionally frustrating – divide between green and blue bubbles. Basically, blue messages on an iPhone meant messages were sent via iMessage, which included high-quality media, read receipts, end-to-end encryption, and seamless group chats. And green bubbles? They represented the SMS fallback for Android phones, with compressed images, clunky group chats, no encryption, and no advanced features.
However, in late 2023, Apple turned a major corner when they announced in 9to5Mac that they’d support RCS Universal Profile sometime in 2024. Their statement signaled a significant shift, promising a “better interoperability experience” compared to traditional SMS or MMS.
“Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. We believe RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users.” – Apple spokesperson, 9to5Mac, November 16, 2023
Then, at its WWDC 2024 keynote event on June 10, 2024, Apple announced that its Messages app would support RCS in the iOS 18 update in fall 2024.
Apple hasn’t shared why it changed its mind about supporting RCS. According to The Verge in June 2024, “Apple was largely forced to support RCS in response to the mounting pressure from global regulators and competing companies.” Their announcement, though low-key, still made us excited because of their commitment to adding support for the GSMA RCS Universal Profile, suggesting Apple would eventually support business-backed features of RCS as well.
With the launch of iOS 18 in September 2024, Apple introduced native person-to-person (P2P) RCS messaging support in some markets. Here’s what that means for iPhone and Android users so far:
For now, P2P RCS on Apple devices is only supported in some markets and is restricted to carriers in those markets who’ve been selected by Apple, and who have also gone through Apple’s required testing and contract work. These markets include:
Based on the information we have, iPhone users with supported carriers can upgrade to iOS 18 to use RCS. To see the latest status for your region, check out Apple’s support page for Europe and the U.S./Canada.
There’s definitely indication that consumers are excited about this, too. Tim Cook recently revealed that iOS 18.1 adoption rates are twice as high as iOS 17.1 during the same period last year.
“We’re getting great feedback from customers and developers already and a really early stat, which is only three days’ worth of data: Users are adopting iOS 18.1 at twice the rate that they adopted 17.1 in the year-ago quarter.” – Tim Cook, Apple CEO, CNBC, October 31, 2024
RCS Business Messaging (RBM) support on iPhones rolled out in select markets and with select carriers with the release of iOS 18.1 on October 28, 2024. This means that, in some markets, businesses can send rich, branded messages directly to customers’ mobile inboxes on both iPhones and Androids. It opens the door for secure, verified messaging at scale, and is a huge step forward for the ubiquity of RCS.
With Apple rolling out both RCS and RBM support in select markets, it’s important to understand the difference between these two messaging types – and why Apple supporting both matters.
RCS is a messaging protocol for person-to-person communication, offering users rich chat features like high-quality images, videos, reactions, and typing indicators, all within a user’s native mobile inbox.
RBM takes this a step further. It allows for rich application-to-person (A2P) messaging in a user’s native mobile inbox. RBM adds features like branded messages, verified sender profiles, carousels, and suggested replies for a rich, conversational customer engagement experience.
In short, RCS enhances everyday texting between users, while RBM transforms how businesses connect with their audiences. Up until 2024, these innovations were limited to Android devices, which is still a significant feat considering RCS statistics show Android’s global market share of over 70%. But now, with Apple on board, businesses will have an even better opportunity to engage customers on both iOS and Android, reaching a much broader audience than ever before.
Currently, RBM support on iPhone is limited to a few markets and depends on carrier availability. Even in Apple’s priority markets, one carrier may support RBM while another may not – so coverage can vary.
While RBM may look a little different on iPhones than on Android, the basic features are the same, including:
Check out the video to see RBM in action on iPhone.
Video shows implementation of RBM on an iPhone, including rich cards, carousels, and more. Recorded in November 2024.
While we don’t have a confirmed timeline for additional features or expanded market support, we know many businesses are excited by the potential of using RBM to reach Apple devices, because of the richer experience it provides, more comparable to WhatsApp’s business solutions or Apple Messages for Business than SMS. Future feature possibilities for RBM on iOS could include:
Stay tuned – this is just the beginning!
If you’re ready to get started with using RCS, many businesses will begin by upgrading their existing SMS messages to RCS where devices are compatible, while keeping SMS as a fallback when necessary. It’s a simple way to start integrating rich messaging with your current SMS setup.
But before getting started, businesses need to launch an RCS Agent and get approved by Google and/or a carrier. This process is subject to if your carrier supports RCS in your market.
Pro tip: Sinch can help get your RCS Agent up-and-running, and get you onboarded with RCS quickly and easily. Reach out to us to get started.
Apple’s adoption of RCS and RBM on iPhones is a big leap forward for P2P and A2P communication, with the potential to bring the power of rich, conversational messaging to a vast user base on the two biggest mobile operating systems around the world.
We’re closely monitoring how Apple continues to roll out RCS messaging support and will keep you updated as we learn more. However it plays out, though, Apple’s support for RCS means you can expect more robust, feature-rich communication possibilities. The good news? You can rest assured that our platform is ready for this change.
Watch the video to hear from Robert Gerstmann, co-founder and Chief Evangelist, on how Sinch is preparing for Apple’s RCS rollout for P2P and A2P messaging.
In the meantime, here are some resources for you to learn more about RCS and RBM:
And if you’re ready to start with RCS, Sinch can help. Contact us to speak with a member of our team about how you can create a conversational messaging strategy your customers will love!
