Apple has introduced RCS, the new standard that replaces SMS in its iPhones, but since this introduction, things have not gone as planned. Many users who sent their first RCS messages from an iPhone have encountered minor issues.
Currently, this feature is available only in the United States with iOS 18 beta 2, but not all users who have updated can use this option. The availability of RCS depends on the chosen telephone operator. As of now, only AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have accepted the arrival of RCS on the iPhone.
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Fewer features
Apple hadn’t officially announced it, but the arrival of RCS on the iPhone was expected to come without several flagship features. Apple offers iMessage, its native service that competes with RCS, so it is not going to fully support this new standard. This is one reason why the Cupertino company is presenting a version of RCS with several fewer options.
Among the major missing features are the ability to react to a message or acknowledgments of receipt. Most notably, Apple has made the questionable choice not to include end-to-end encryption in its version of RCS.
While Apple regularly touts its real efforts to protect users’ data and privacy, the omission of end-to-end encryption in RCS leaves a significant gap that is hard to justify.
