How to enable RCS messaging on your iPhone

In mid-September 2024, Apple introduced iOS 18. Since the update, you can also activate and send RCS messages on your iPhone. We'll explain how it works.

The good old SMS has lost importance in recent years. At its peak in 2012, around 59.8 billion SMS were sent in Germany.

In the meantime, WhatsApp, Telegram and Co. have almost replaced SMS. In 2023, the number of SMS messages sent was only a meager 5.3 billion.

But with an innovation in iOS, SMS – or its successor – could experience a resurgence. In the future, you will be able to activate RCS messages on your iPhone, something that has been the case on Android for years.

Activate RCS messages on the iPhone – here's how it works

RCS stands for the “Rich Communication Services” protocol and refers to the communication standard that is considered the successor to SMS. The standard was introduced in Germany in 2012.

But while RCS messages have long been integrated into Android, Apple has remained closed to them in recent years. With the upgrade to iOS 18, however, this is now a thing of the past.

If you have updated your iPhone to the latest operating system, you can also activate RCS messages in the future. However, these are not yet encrypted.

How to set up the standard

If you still want to activate RCS messages on your iPhone, you can easily do this in the settings. To do this, open the “Settings“ of your iPhone the menu “Apps„.

Now look for the subsection “News“ in your overview and open the menu item. Under iOS 18, you will also find the item “RCS News“You can activate this using a slider.

If you use RCS messages in your Messages app on your iPhone, they will be different in color from iMessage messages. While iMessage messages will continue to appear in blue, RCS messages will be green, just like SMS before.

What can RCS messages do compared to SMS?

Compared to SMS, RCS messages offer significantly more options. Not only can you receive short text messages, but you can also receive audio, images and videos.

There are also functions such as read receipts, emoji reactions and an icon when the contact partner types. Group chats are also possible via the Rich Communication Services protocol.

But in addition to the lack of end-to-end encryption, there are other problems with RCS messages. Not all smartphone users have access to the SMS successor.

While Samsung, for example, has been implementing RCS messages on its smartphones for years, this does not apply to all Android devices. There can also be problems with the network operator, as they must also support the protocol.

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