RCS Messaging Not Working on iPhone iOS 18 in Australia and Other Countries

Rich Communication Services (RCS) is the next generation of SMS that allows for features like higher-quality image sharing, group chats, and read receipts across Android and iPhone users. However, despite being included in iOS 17, it's still not working in Australia and quite a few other countries. While there's not really much you can do about the problem here's a better understanding of the entire situation.

RCS Messaging Not Working on iPhone iOS 18 in Australia and Other Countries

Apple's integration of RCS into iOS 17 was a hugely awaited feature, finally allowing seamless communication between iPhone and Android users. However, for RCS to work, several factors come into play, including carrier support, infrastructure, and regional availability. RCS, while functioning similarly to Apple’s iMessage, requires coordination between the phone's operating system (iOS or Android), the messaging apps (like Google Messages or Apple's native Messages app), and most importantly, mobile network carriers. While RCS is technically part of iOS 17, it is the carriers that must activate this feature and manage its infrastructure. Without proper carrier support, RCS cannot work properly, no matter the device or software version.

Australia is a First World Country... What's the problem?

Unlike Apple's iMessage, which functions over data and doesn’t require carrier intervention, RCS is more complex. It is dependent on carriers to enable it in their settings, and each carrier has different timelines and strategies for adopting RCS. In Australia, this is a significant bottleneck. Our absolute favourite provider......Telstra had previously experimented with RCS but shut down its platform in 2022. However, it is expected to be one of the first carriers to reintroduce RCS for iOS 18 users. Though they said the same thing way back when iOS 17 released.... Optus and Vodafone have not historically supported RCS in a meaningful way, and there’s no concrete timeline for when or if they will enable it in the future. This creates a significant gap for users on these networks who want to experience RCS benefits.

What About the Rest of the World?

A lot of carriers have begun outsourcing their RCS infrastructure to Google's Jibe platform. Jibe acts as a backend for managing RCS services, providing a way for carriers to implement RCS without building their own systems from scratch. In countries like the U.S., major carriers such as Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T are using Jibe to roll out RCS for both Android and iOS. But as is typical Australia hasn't seen much of this yet. While U.S. carriers have adopted Jibe, a lot of other carriers in other countries haven't made similar arrangements or announcements. Even if Apple has built support for RCS into iOS 17 & 18, Carriers configure their systems to point to a platform like Jibe.

Why RCS Isn’t Rolling Out Simultaneously in All Countries

In countries like the U.S., RCS is working for iOS 17 and iOS 18 but this is largely due to the pre-established relationships with Google Jibe and extensive testing by carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T.

In Europe, the situation is more complicated, some carriers are on board, while others are still lagging behind. For example, Germany's Deutsche Telekom has supported RCS for some time, but the feature still isn’t widespread across all carriers. In the UK, RCS adoption is gradually increasing, but full support across all carriers and platforms is still patchy. Countries like India have seen a more significant rollout of RCS, especially on Android, but iPhone users remain in a similar situation as in Australia, waiting for carriers to implement support. Ultimately carriers don't really want to spend money investing in tech that doesn't really have much of a benefit to their bottom line.

Will Australia Ever Get Proper RCS Support? I Doubt it!

The rollout of RCS for users in Australia will depend on carrier action. But we all know that Telstra controls the entire market and the chances of them spending any money on upgrades isn't likely. Unless the government is giving them a handout for the upgrade. That said I don't even think that's an option as RCS isn't that big of a feature in the scheme of things.