RCS messaging has gained popularity by leaps and bounds this past year, especially in the Western market. More than one billion people are estimated to use RCS messaging at present, and a huge part of that growth is due to Apple introducing RCS compatibility with iOS 18.
iOS 18 has supported RCS messaging since it launched in September, but at launch, carrier support was a bit scarce. Now, Apple has updated its support page with an expanded list of carriers that support RCS.
These carriers are:
- AT&T
- C Spire
- Consumer Cellular
- Cricket
- FirstNet
- H20 Wireless
- Metro by T-Mobile
- PureTalk
- Red Pocket
- Spectrum
- T-Mobile USA
- TracFone/Straight Talk
- US Cellular
- Verizon Wireless
- Visible
- Xfinity Mobile
Despite the updates, this isn’t a comprehensive list. There are still a few networks like Boost Mobile that offer RCS support but aren’t included in the lineup. Either way, the list provides a starting point if you’re trying to determine a carrier to use.
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There are a few big names missing from that list, though. Most notably, Google Fi is nowhere to be found. A few months ago, Google issued a statement that only Apple could make RCS possible for iPhone users. So far, that carrier doesn’t support RCS between Google and iPhone users.
So, what is RCS messaging? Think of it like an updated version of SMS and MMS messaging. That isn’t a perfect analogy, but what you need to know is that it enables Apple iMessage-like functionality, including read receipts, the ability to share high-resolution media without unwanted compression, and much more.
Something to keep in mind is that RCS isn’t meant to serve as a replacement for apps like iMessage. It’s an improvement over SMS, but iMessage has features that neither SMS nor RCS has. RCS is still a big feature, though, and it’s great to see more and more carriers supporting it so as many people as possible can make the switch away from SMS.