topic Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone in Network

RCS not enabled on iPhone

Cornetto — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 10:24:13 GMT

I got a message from Three announcing that RCS was being launched for iPhones from 9/12/2024.

It's the 10th now, and it's still not enabled on my phone: the RCS option is not present under Settings | Apps | Messages, and the IMS Status only shows Voice & SMS.

Has anyone else got this issue?

I phoned support this morning but the bloke I spoke to didn't know anything about it and even seemed to doubt that the message I'd received from Three was genuine.

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

jr0 — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 12:04:31 GMT

@Cornetto- check this thread https://community.three.co.uk/t5/Network/Apple-IOS-18-0-RCS-Support/m-p/36068
and this
https://community.three.co.uk/t5/Network/RCS-on-iPhone-gone-live/td-p/41562

maybe your iOS release version?

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

Cornetto — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 12:27:08 GMT

Unfortunately, nothing in those links helps and I'm running iOS 18.1.1 so that should not be the issue.

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

Clever-Trevor — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 18:18:10 GMT

It will appear with iOS update 18.2.

this was due to release on 9th but its delayed ( likely today or this week )

as iOS released another beta ( as found an issue)

So.should see it with next update.

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

jr0 — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 10:54:18 GMT

@CornettoI believe 18.2 is now out, any joy with RCS?

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

Cornetto — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 16:57:16 GMT

Thanks for the info. Yep RCS is now enabled with the 18.2 update. It took few minutes after the update was applied, but it is working.

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

tomb — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 10:10:13 GMT

iPhone 16 Pro running iOS 18.2 with RCS enabled refuses to send via RCS, insists MMS Messaging need to be enabled to send photos to non-iPhone users. Support looking into it.

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

tomb — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 10:53:26 GMT

Three Support are saying when on data or Wi-Fi if you want to send a photo, RCS needs MMS enabled and you will be charged for it at 65p per image, am I missing something here?

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

jr0 — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:32:28 GMT

What?! 😯 That doesn't make sense to me...

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

tomb — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 09:38:03 GMT

I know yeah, Three support were having none of it, they insist RCS needs MMS on to send images. Turn off MMS and try send a photo to an non-iPhone number and see what it says.....

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

jr0 — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 13:41:26 GMT

maybe they don't know what is RCS as it only recently started being supported in the UK...

I just tried between an iphone and an android (and ensure iphone had MMS off and android could not download MMS) and worked pretty fine... just a matter of couple seconds

Could be that whomever you are trying to send RCS doesn't have it enabled?

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

tomb — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 13:42:22 GMT

Logged a complaint about it with Three Support, then 24 hours later, it starts working...... interesting that.

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

JonathanB — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 14:03:23 GMT

Hi @tomb,

Glad to hear the issue has been sorted out now. I've double checked and RCS definitely uses Wi-Fi/Mobile Data, so the only allowance relevant on the account is your plan's data, assuming this isn't Unlimited.

You wouldn't incur MMS charges for an RCS message, so apologies for any confusion on the part of anyone who was assisting you with this.

Thanks,
Jonathan

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

tomb — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 14:41:28 GMT

Now Three Support say RSC image messages are chargeable when off WiFi (on their data network) but free when on WiFi...... hmmmm

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

tomb — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 14:48:08 GMT

Thanks for testing, the person who I was sending to did have RCS on as they've used it for years. Would not send yesterday. @JonathanB got involved above and cleared up the chargeable statement.

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

JonathanB — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 10:28:49 GMT

Hi @tomb,

I've just been thinking on this topic, and wanted to add a couple of extra points, just to fully cover all the relevant info.

I should clarify that on PAYG you could incur charges for using RCS related data, but as long as you have a Data allowance this is definitely covered, and wouldn't be billed as MMS.

Also if you were in a roaming destination which isn't included in one of our Go Roam tiers then you do pay per MB of data used.

That's the only two exceptions I can think of. So I can see the point that this is chargeable usage, but only in a couple of very specific circumstances.

Thanks,
Jonathan

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

dano — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 12:18:44 GMT

I’m tagging onto this thread rather than starting a new one. RCS is still “Waiting for activation” on iPhone running iOS 18.4. I contacted support to ask what I need to do to enable it but they didn’t know what RCS is. I’ve just tried resetting my network settings but it’s not changed anything. What else can I try?

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

dano — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 12:22:15 GMT

Fixed - I converted the SIM to an eSIM.

Re: RCS not enabled on iPhone

JonathanB — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 11:00:41 GMT

Hi @dano,

Thanks for sharing your solution, hopefully this helps others in the future. RCS should work with physical SIMs though, so that's a bit odd, do you know roughly how long you had the old SIM for?

Thanks,
Jonathan