The second beta of iOS 18.4, released earlier this week, expands RCS messaging support to more carriers in the United States and other countries, according to posts by users on Reddit, as well as other social sites.
Reddit users, as well as users on the MacRumors forum, report that after installing the beta update on their iPhone are able to toggle on RCS messaging on Mint Mobile, Google Fi, Ultra Mobile, Tello, and US Mobile. The functionality appears to be rolling out for all T-Mobile Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs).
iPhone users with a T-Mobile MVNO can enabled the feature in the “Messages” section of the Settings app. It appears that RCS access is only available for those running the second iOS 18.4 developer beta, not the public beta.
Users in France report that Orange and Sosh also have RCS available with iOS 18.4 beta 2, according to iPhoneSoft, so RCS may also be rolling out worldwide for other carriers.
Rich Communication Services is a communication protocol adopted by Google, smartphone makers, and carriers worldwide have adopted RCS, but Apple had long resisted adopting it, before finally giving in.
RCS supports higher-resolution photos and videos, audio messages, and bigger file sizes, while also bringing improved encryption for chats between iPhone and Android users and more reliability for group chats across different device platforms. Likely more important to most users, it also allows for improved cross-platform emoji reactions.
