iOS 18.1 correctly displays RCS emoji reactions from Android owners
The iPhone’s Messages app on iOS 18.1 correctly displays RCS emoji reactions from Android owners instead in a separate line like before.
iOS 18.0 brought support for the Rich Communication Services (RCS) communication protocol to iPhones, promising to streamline messaging between green and blue bubbles. RCS enables iMessage-like improvements over SMS and MMS such as high-resolution media attachments and read receipts.
RCS support in iOS 18.0 lacked proper emoji reaction, but Apple has fixed this in iOS 18.1. When an iPhone owner running iOS 18.1 receives an emoji reaction from their Android counterpart, the selected emoji will appear in line with the message bubble. Before the change, emoji reactions appeared as a separate line.
iOS 18.1 correctly displays Android RCS emoji reactions
“We sent test messages and emoji reactions between iPhones running iOS 18.1 and different Android phones, confirming both devices now display reactions as intended,” Umar Shakir, The Verge. “It’s unclear when this change happened or whose side—Google or Apple—had to make adjustments to get it working.”
The Messages app in iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia supports the RCS Universal Profile, which is the basic RCS implementation. Support for emoji reactions requires RCS version 2.7, which is obviously included in iOS 18.1.
The publication notes that RCS 2.7 also brings the ability to edit a sent message, a feature iMessage supports but doesn’t work with RCS chats as of yet.
Apple’s RCS implementation in iOS 18
According to the official release notes for iOS 18.0 and Apple’s support page, RCS support in the Messages app on iOS 18.0 includes delivery and read receipts, higher resolution photos and videos, web links and typing indicators.
“Apple’s implementation of RCS is based on the industry’s standard,” the company clarifies. “RCS messages aren’t end-to-end encrypted, which means they’re not protected from a third-party reading them while they’re sent between devices.”
Carrier support for both parties is required for RCS to work. You can enable this feature on Settings > Apps > Messages > RCS Messaging. RCS is a carrier-provided service so if you don’t see the RCS Messaging toggle, your carrier hasn’t rolled out support yet (this Apple page lets you check if your carrier supports RCS on iPhone).
RCS messages appear in green text bubbles. Apple also supports RCS Business Messaging for connecting with businesses over RCS.
Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2024/11/08/apple-ios-18-1-rcs-emoji-reactions-android-iphone/
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