ICYMI, if you updated to iOS 18 Beta 2 in the US, cross-platform RCS works for you, though only for text messages—it still falls back to SMS for multimedia content. In large markets like India, as one commenter noted, it still hasn’t been released.
What’s great is that all the RBM (the business version of RCS) agents look functional on both platforms. Thank you to all who let me test their agents, and yes, I will keep quiet until further notice!
This early interoperability is a huge payoff for the brands that have experimented with RCS for years, waiting patiently for cross-platform support. From what DotGo’s Surinder Anand has shared, the experience is just as lush on iOS as it is on Android (you can try their RBM demo here).
For brands yet to start, as I said in May of last year:
The technology will be here before you know it. And if you start your product conversation when “everyone is doing it,” you’re already late. Technology is notoriously ruthless to those who are late to adopt it. The prize always goes to the risk-taker, the early entrant, the one who has already tested out the kinks before going all in. Start now so you can learn and iterate, and when it becomes mainstream, you’re already surfing the wave instead of trying to paddle out to one.
And finally, I’ll repeat:
RCS will kill SMS quietly—confine it like the lone fax machine in the office in the middle of nowhere. All brands must prepare for that future by building for RCS today.