Apple unveils its newest operating system every September like clockwork, making it the biggest month of the year for techies and Apple users alike. On Sept. 16, the tech giant announced key features that are part of the new iOS 18 update, including a brand-new Passwords app, redesigned Photos app, and advanced Home Screen customization. With iOS 18, which is now available to download, iPhone users will also be privy to a more streamlined texting experience with Android users thanks to a wealth of improvements coming to the Messages app—but, of course, there’s a catch!
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The Messages app just got a major upgrade. According to the press release, iPhone users will now be able to bold, italicize, underline, and strikethrough words, and react to messages with emojis and stickers (similar to how you can “thumbs up” or “heart” a text). Another new feature allows users to draft and schedule iMessages to send at a later date.
However, it's the Android-related update that’s generating the most headlines. In a historic milestone for iPhone-Android relationships everywhere, iOS 18 will support Rich Communication Services (RCS), a more modern messaging protocol.
So, what exactly does this entail? Well, in a nutshell, a lot of basic texting features like typing indicators and read receipts will no longer be limited to just blue-bubble contacts on iPhones. Media files will also be shared in high-resolution, as they typically are between iPhone users. Additionally, with RCS, iPhone users can react to green texts with emojis and add/remove people from group chats.
“When messaging contacts who do not have an Apple device, the Messages app now supports RCS for richer media and more reliable group messaging compared to SMS and MMS,” explains Apple.
In the wake of iOS 18, Android Police reported that “green bubbles are still a thing, but they’re getting closer to blue bubbles.”
“We've known it was coming for almost a year, but today's the day we've been waiting for,” said the outlet. “On Android, Google Messages, Samsung Messages, and numerous carrier texting apps have supported rich chats for years, but now that Apple has made iOS 18 official, iPhones can finally use the protocol meant to replace SMS and MMS.”
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The RCS rollout undoubtedly puts a huge checkmark in Apple’s column, but it still has its downfalls. For starters, iPhone users aren’t able to schedule messages or use animated text effects when messaging Androids.
There are also different levels of RCS, and the basic version, RCS Universal Profile, which is the level that iOS 18 supports, doesn’t offer end-to-end encryption between iPhone and Android users. In other words, the content of your messages with a green bubble texter isn’t necessarily secure.
According to Tom Van Pelt, the technical director at mobile network association GSMA, the next step is to make RCS Universal Profile an “interoperable end-to-end encryption” model.
“The next major milestone is for the RCS Universal Profile to add important user protections such as interoperable end-to-end encryption,” he said in a release. “This will be the first deployment of standardized, interoperable messaging encryption between different computing platforms, addressing significant technical challenges such as key federation and cryptographically-enforced group membership.”
Until then, just watch the nature of your messages if you happen to be texting an Android user.
