Finally, Android emoji reactions are displayed correctly on iPhones

2 weeks ago

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Finally, Android emoji reactions are displayed correctly on iPhones

Another RCS upgrade has been spotted on iOS 18
Android emoji reactions now display correctly on iPhones
The change may have been made by Apple or Google

While messaging between Android phones and iPhones still isn’t perfect, it’s a lot better than it used to be – and users have now noticed that emoji reactions from Android devices are now displayed correctly in the iPhone Messages app.

As noted by The edge, Android Centraland others, if RCS (Rich Communication Services) is enabled on both Android and iOS, emoji responses sent from Android will now actually stick to the message they’re responding to – instead of appearing on a separate line, which quite confusing.

It’s not clear what changed on Apple or Google’s part to make this possible, but the iOS 18.1 update seems to have something to do with it. Make sure you’re using the latest iPhone software and check that RCS is enabled and it should work.

The RCS option on the iPhone can be found in Settings: tap Apps, To informand then RCS messages. Your provider must support RCS for the option to be visible. You can check this via Settings by tapping General, AboutThan Carrier.

An improving situation

Two Android phones on a green and blue background with Google Messages

RCS is also supported in Google Messages on Android (Image credit: Google)

You may recall that Apple announced in November 2023 that it would support RCS messaging, although we had to wait until the iOS 18 software rolled out in September for the functionality to actually become available.

RCS is the successor to regular text messaging and adds modern features like read receipts, group chats, and higher resolutions for sharing photos and videos. It is used by default in the Google Messages app on Android.

While this doesn’t solve the green bubble problem and there are some security issues that need to be addressed, it brings iPhone-to-Android chats closer to the level of iPhone-to-iPhone chats using Apple’s own iMessage.

Of course, WhatsApp is the main messaging tool for many users outside the US. It offers end-to-end encryption, a slew of messaging features, and works more or less the same on both Android and iOS.