For years, iPhone users have experienced a variety of frustrations when texting with Android users. Green text bubbles aside, issues such as low-quality pictures and videos, the lack of option for read receipts, features not working consistently across platforms, and several drawbacks in group texts have become common complaints from loyal Appleites.
Recently, however, with the upgrade to Apple’s iOS 18, the rich communication services (RCS) component has helped make iPhones more compatible with Androids. Previous operating systems used short message service (SMS), which had a character limit of 160 and lacked support for multimedia capabilities in texting. While individuals might not fully understand what it means to use RCS over SMS, Dallas resident Juliette Vielhauer said she believes that most iPhone users are at least aware of RCS with Apple’s recent update.
“Before that, RCS wasn’t widely discussed or used, so many people may not have known the difference,” she said. “SMS, on the other hand, has been the standard for so long that it’s more familiar to most users.”
There are many individuals who prefer Apple products and likely don’t pay much attention to what types of texts are sent if they aren’t iMessages, though. Dallas-area resident Adrian Acevedo, who is dedicated to the iPhone, said he does not know many people who understand the difference between RCS and SMS.
“Apple users are so connected with the Apple ecosystem that they have no idea about anything outside of Apple,” he said.
But those who use iPhones are not the only ones who are unconcerned about being kept apprised of all of the technology acronyms associated with their devices. Tara Janke, who lives in the San Diego area, opts for the Android life but doesn’t fret over how her messages are being sent.
“My texts are SMS, and I have no idea what that means,” she said.
Dallas-area resident Josh Odegard, who owns and operates his own IT business and is also the entire IT Department for NatNews, said he doesn’t think most people know what RCS is or how it differs from SMS, but they don’t necessarily need to understand it to be affected by it.
“Since Apple finally updated most of its users to support RCS, I think a lot of people have already noticed some of the differences,” he said. “I am very happy that Apple finally got its head out of its ass and decided to play nice with the rest of the world.”
Odegard, who is obviously an Android user, said Apple didn’t update its operating system to use RCS by choice, though.
“Apple did it because the EU said it had to in the EU, and Apple just didn’t want to maintain different systems across different areas—just like when it was forced to use USB-C ports instead of its own ports,” he said. “Apple still doesn’t fully support the RCS standards that were created by many other tech companies that worked together to create it, so messages between iPhone and non-iPhone devices are still not encrypted, but that doesn’t affect most users.”
Apple users who have updated to iOS 18 and Android users might not notice significant differences when texting, but certain features (e.g., being able to see the three-dot bubble when someone is typing, confirmation that a text was delivered, and read receipts) have at least made some people’s attitudes a little more positive. Aside from recognizing a benefit in group texting, Vielhauer said RCS doesn’t change much in her day-to-day texting with those who prefer Android devices.
“The update has had a minor positive impact for me, mainly in that it allows for adding and removing people from group chats when there’s an Android user involved,” she said. “Other than that, the experience doesn’t feel significantly different.”
The RCS updates haven’t perfected group texting among varying devices, though, and Odegard said Apple is at fault for this.
“Apple’s still not smart enough,” he said. “RCS is only mostly working and only in one-on-one chats or in group chats where everyone in the group supports RCS. If one person in a group chat doesn’t support RCS (like an iPhone user who refuses to update their phone), then the whole group doesn’t really support it.”
Regardless of the changes RCS may or may not have brought, there are still certain differences between iMessages and texts with Android users that some iPhone devotees will never choose to overlook.
“I think RCS improves the experience by being able to show read receipts, but as long as the text bubble is green, Apple users will not like that,” Acevedo said.
Vielhauer isn’t too bothered by some of her text bubbles not being blue, though, and said that messaging with Android users has never felt arduous or annoying for her.
“The green bubble is just a visual difference—it doesn’t affect the overall experience,” she said. “While the iMessage offers some unique features, the core communication with Android users is just as simple, and I don’t see any major obstacles in continuing to text across platforms.”
While the move to using RCS in its operating system is a small step Apple took to try to be more compatible with Androids, there are still plenty of doubters who don’t believe that Apple will ever fully allow its customers to integrate with its non-customers. Janke, who said she appreciates that she can now see when her texts are delivered to iPhone users, said she thinks it’s by design that an Apple user texting with an Android user will never be as easy as iMessage communication with fellow Apple users.
“Apple’s goal is to make it so tough and annoying that everyone moves to Apple,” she said.
And even though he is proud to remain loyal to his iPhone, Acevedo agrees with Janke.
“I don’t think texting an Android will get easier because Apple wants you to stay in its ecosystem,” he said. “Apple knows how to influence its customers and will find ways to make it harder to text or communicate with Android users.”
As expected, Odegard also does not foresee any ideal compatibility ever happening between iPhone and Android users. He said this is the result of Apple only caring about making money rather than about any actual human beings.
“Apple doesn’t even care about its own users and intentionally makes the user experience [crappy] when that user chooses to interact with a non-iPhone user,” he said. “Apple thinks it’s going to convince everyone to switch to the iPhone, but all it does is piss off its own users.”
Odegard also said the level of concern is unbalanced, though, as the differences don’t upset Android users.
“We love seeing iPhone users cry about it—their tears are delicious,” he said. “Maybe one day Apple will stop acting like a spoiled kid who doesn’t want to share toys with other kids, especially when all of the other kids are trying to share their toys with Apple.”
WEEKLY PHOTO OP
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Some of the NatNews staff was honored to help celebrate dear reader Damon Yousefy’s birthday last week