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iOS 27 Finally Fixes Replying to Android Texts

When iOS 27 arrives next month, you'll be able to reply to a specific green chat bubble (aka an Android message) in a Messages conversation on your iPhone.

ios 27 rcs replies
All you need to do is press and hold the message, tap Reply, then type your response. It will be received by the recipient as a real threaded reply (i.e. an inline reply), tying it directly to the message in question. It's the same with reactions – react to a shared photo and your contact will see the intended emoji instead of a message saying that you "liked an image."

It's all thanks to Apple's embrace of RCS Universal Profile 3.0, the GSMA standard it helped publish and has been adopting in stages. Universal Profile 2.4 first appeared in iOS 18 in September 2024, but it didn't support inline replies. Come this September, on supporting iPhones, that will finally change.

Bear in mind that the feature also depends on carrier support at both ends. Even before you update to iOS 27, you can see if your device is ready for the change: simply go to Settings ➝ Apps ➝ Messages ➝ RCS Messaging, and check that the RCS Messaging toggle is enabled. If the setting isn't displayed in said menu, your carrier has yet to enable the feature.

Related Roundups: iOS 27, iPadOS 27
Tag: Android
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Top Rated Comments

HouseLannister Avatar
4 weeks ago
Now we just need Edit and Unsend.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4 weeks ago
The only thing that matters to me is having E2EE functioning across platforms, the rest is noise until then.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
4 weeks ago
The best QoL upgrade for me has been moving group chats that involve Android off of iMessage totally.

Some are in Signal, one is in WhatsApp. It's been dependent upon who is involved and what they use.

I honestly really enjoy having a lot of that out of the Messages app, as I don't get fine grained enough control over badges and notifications. I'd really like that stuff to be better per message thread.

For instance -- I'd like to be able to FULLY mute a thread, including muting any App badges.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lazyrighteye Avatar
4 weeks ago

Now we just need Edit and Unsend.
I assumed this functionality was included when RCS compliance landed. When it didn't, I had to go check that I had RCS enabled. Looking forward to these [more] useful features.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4 weeks ago

That’s not a concern. WhatsApp is free.
You dont get it. People don't want to use whatsapp. A significant amount of people, actually. They want to use old fashioned phone number texts cause that's what they are used to
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4 weeks ago

Good news, they still work.
They don't work well for sending videos. That's what rcs is for.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)