iPhone adds RCS support with iOS 18

As expected, Apple announced RCS support for the Messages app on iPhone with iOS 18 at WWDC 2024. This was first teased last November.

“RCS Messaging Support” was announced at the end of the iOS 18 section when software lead Craig Federighi was highlighting other new features. You can see it in the feature grid above with a green bubble.

to update: After the keyword, Apple Image shared by It highlights the “richer media” and delivery/read receipts aspects of RCS.

Apple hasn’t shared any other details (last year it outlined RCS Universal Profile support), such as when it will launch. People have been speculating whether it will be released with the initial iOS 18 release this fall or whether it will come later in the year in a bulleted release.

Notably, rich communications services weren’t mentioned when Apple was talking about the new features coming to Messages this year.

Some of these capabilities come directly from Google Messages, including the ability to reply to a message with any emoji. These Emoji Tapbacks are accompanied by vibrant color redesigns for the default settings: heart, thumbs up/down, haha, exclamation marks, and question mark.

Then there is the simple ability to schedule messages.

In terms of new features, Messages in iOS 18 adds support for bold, italic, underline, and strikethrough text formatting. There are indications that Google Messages is working on this capability, but it’s unclear whether it will actually launch.

Apple is also adding “Text Effects” that animate certain words/phrases: Big, Small, Shake, Nod, Explore, Ripple, Bloom, and Jitter.