What Is RCS messaging? RCS Chat vs SMS and MMS

Rich Communication Services (RCS) is a newer kind of text messaging that’s an upgrade from traditional Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). It lets you send high-resolution photos and videos, see when someone is typing, and more.

Key features of RCS messaging

• High-resolution media sharing: Send high-quality photos, videos and audio; media files can be up to 100MB. 
• Real-time interaction: Read receipts and typing indicators let you know when your message has been seen and when someone’s working on a reply. 
• Emoji reactions: Respond to a message quickly, you can do a “tapback response” to react with an emoji. 
• Enhanced group chats: Support for group chats with up to 100 participants.  
• Business messaging tools: Business-friendly options include custom branding, analytics, and the ability to include files like maps or tickets. 

How does RCS chat compare to SMS and MMS?  

Texting has come a long way since its invention more than 30 years ago. It started with SMS messages, which are short and can only include text, then evolved with MMS messaging, which added the ability to send emoji, images and multimedia files. 

RCS added even more features and by late 2019 was the default Android messaging platform. In late 2024, Apple joined the party by adding RCS support to iOS 18.

How does RCS chat work?  

RCS messages depend on an internet connection, so you need to be on Wi-Fi or have a phone plan with data. To carry on a conversation with RCS, you need these elements:  

• Your phone must support RCS: Androids on 5.0 or later and iPhones on iOS 18 or later are RCS compatible, as are most Pixel phones.  
• Your phone carrier may need to support it, too, unless you’re using Google Message. The Big 3 networks (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon) all support RCS chat, as do many of the smaller service resellers called MVNOs.
• You need to be somewhere RCS is available. It's not yet in all regions of the U.S.  

• You may need to enable RCS messaging on your phone. The recipient or recipients (everyone in the chat) need to have RCS messaging enabled on their phones, too. If a recipient doesn’t have RCS chatting or there are connectivity issues, messages will simply revert to SMS or MMS.

How to turn on RCS messaging

• On an Android: Go to Google Messages, tap your profile picture, then tap Message settings. Select RCS chats and enable.  
• On an iPhone: Open Settings -> Apps -> Messages. Under Text Messaging, tap on RCS Messaging and toggle it on.  

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What are the advantages and disadvantages of RCS messaging? 

RCS chatting adds a lot of functionality but also brings some considerations. The most notable one is encryption. RCS messages between Google Message users are end-to-end encrypted but iPhone RCS messages are not; instead, iPhone users must use iMessage to get that level of encryption. And messages between iPhones and Androids are not encrypted.  

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Is RCS messaging safe?  

As mentioned above, the contents of RCS messages may or may not be end-to-end encrypted, depending on what platform and devices are being used. Best practices if you’re worried about RCS messaging security include: 

• Avoid sharing sensitive material, like financial info, over RCS. 
• To ensure encryption, Android users could limit themselves to communicating with other Google Message users, and iPhone users could stick to iMessage.  
• Consider using a platform that emphasizes security instead, such as Signal or WhatsApp. 

In addition, RCS messaging can transmit sensitive metadata you’d rather not share: IP address, phone number, device info. That’s true even when the message content is end-to-end encrypted: RCS uses carrier networks, so it needs to identify you and your device to allow access. Again, if this gives you pause, you might want to use a private texting app like Signal, which has metadata protection software called Sealed Sender.  

How do I turn off RCS? 

If you decide you’d rather not use RCS chat, you can toggle it off using the path you used to enable it. A few things happen if you turn off RCS messaging:  

• You’ll be removed from group RCS chats. 
• Media you send via text (photos, videos, audio) may have lower quality for the recipient, and the maximum file size drops from 100MB to 5MB.  
• Messages will not be encrypted unless you use an app like Signal or WhatsApp or stick with iMessage. 

Android users should turn off RCS before switching to a new phone to avoid verification difficulties.  

Frequently asked questions about RCS messaging