iOS 18.4 brings RCS messaging to some of the last big carrier holdouts

iOS 18.4 is currently in beta testing, and with the recent beta 2 debut, it brought long-awaited RCS messaging support to not only Google Fi users, but also customers of some other big US carrier holdouts: Mint Mobile, Boost Mobile, and more. Here are the details.

Mint Mobile and Boost Mobile now support RCS, alongside Google Fi and more

RCS messaging is a newly supported feature in iOS 18 that makes texting between iPhones and Androids perform way better than before.

That’s because RCS is a more modern messaging protocol than SMS—the previous standard for non-iMessages.

But due to the way the technology works, Apple adding RCS support in iOS 18 did not automatically bring the feature to all iPhone users. Instead, each carrier had to implement its own RCS support.

All of the biggest US carriers have supported RCS on iPhone for a while, including AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.

Plenty of smaller carriers have also enabled RCS messaging. But some of the main holdouts to this point have been T-Mobile MVNOs like Mint Mobile and Google Fi.

Now, with iOS 18.4, there’s full RCS support for all T-Mobile MVNOs such as:

• Metro by T-Mobile
• Mint Mobile
• Boost Mobile
• Google Fi
• and more

RCS compatibility and features in iOS 18.4

If you’re running iOS 18.4 beta 2—or when you install the public release of iOS 18.4 next month—you’ll be able to start using RCS in the Messages app immediately.

You can verify that your carrier is now supported in one of two ways:

1. Go to Settings ⇾ Apps ⇾ Messages then scroll down to the RCS Messaging section
2. Or to go Settings ⇾ General ⇾ About and tap the Carrier row to see if RCS is listed

Some of the benefits of RCS over SMS is that it supports several iMessage-like features, such as:

• tapback reactions
• sending higher quality photos and videos
• read receipts
• typing indicators

iOS still displays green bubbles for RCS conversations rather than blue ones, but generally you shouldn’t experience some of the same issues with RCS that SMS tends to cause.

Are you excited for RCS to come to Mint Mobile and Google Fi? Let us know in the comments.

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