RCS for iOS 18?

[Clever-Trevor]

Hi,

Anyone have or know RCS enabled for IOS 18 on Three ?

 ( as I am on the beta version & see says ‘Voice & SMS’ - but no RCS! ) 

Thanks

[Kt_12]

Three we're 5 years late to even introduce esim. How can we have the confidence that Three won't talk half a decade to introduce a simple protocol like RCS? Jesus

[PeteG]

Hello. 

RCS is already available on the network. It's been on Android devices for a few years now. The network is working to bring it to iOS as well, but some time will be needed before it's enabled. 

Pete. 

[JonathanB]

Hi @Clever-Trevor,

Sorry for the delay on answering this, but I have made some enquiries. We're working with our partners on this, and hope to be able to support this service for our customers soon. Sorry that's as much as I can say for now.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[ajcpominoz]

Is there any update on this? iOS 18 is available to the public now. 

[Stef-S]

Hi Jonathan, thanks for feeding back. Can you help me understand the hold-up? The infrastructure exists; it’s as simple as flicking a switch. Why are Three withholding the feature from iPhone? 

[PeteG]

Hello there. 

It's not quite as simple as flipping a switch, sadly.

There is changes that need to made on the network in order to ensure a proper 'handshake' between devices and the network. With iOS 18 now finalised, the network has the job of making any required changes to ensure that happens correctly, and then testing those changes to ensure that not only do they work, but that they don't cause any issues with pre existing features. The testing alone can take quite some time. 

Hopefully we'll see the feature launch soon! I'm sick of receiving low quality images and videos from my iOS friends. 

Pete. 

[graclarkey]

@JonathanB thanks for replying. It’s really lame of Three that it isn’t yet supporting this in the UK even now when the first full release of iOS 18 is out. Not all iPhone users want to use a Meta-owned product to communicate with our Android-using friends.

[Fordy]

Don’t hold your breath mate. We’re still waiting for visual voicemail 

[Lukiee24]

I have now updated to iOS 18.0 (22A3354) still no option for RCS. Is three actually going to release this to us? 

[graclarkey]

No, I'm on Beta 6 now and it's still not been activated. Really disappointed that Three is so slow to turn this feature on in iOS 18 in the UK, considering it's supported RCS between Android devices for years. Together with the fact that network coverage in some parts of central London is abysmal, I'm seriously considering changing providers.