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RCS on iPhone 2025

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
July 2, 2025
29 replies
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Hi,

Are there any further updates regarding RCS on iD Mobile?

Since this was rolled out in 2024 EE, 3, O2, Giffgaff, TescoMobile (plus unknown others) have all activated it for their customers.

We’re trying to set up an Android/iOS messaging group and the iD Mobile member is the one making this impossible to achieve. She’s now looking at other networks that will offer this for her iPhone when upgrading later this year.

Thanks

Best answer by Tyler C

Hey here @S4tlum, we do not have an update on this I’m afraid, and can only advise it’s something we don’t currently offer.

Thanks,

Tyler

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M

Marquerita T

iD Mobile Employee

Hi @kieo.

We hear you. RCS on iOS is something we’re working on closely with Three. Stay tuned, we’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready.

Thanks for your patience!

~Marquerita

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S

SimonH

New Contributor

is there an ETA yet? i was about to switch to ID til i realised you don’t have it!

P

peche

New Contributor

Are you able to expand on why RCS is not supported on the ID mobile network when it is supported on the three network?

M

Marquerita T

iD Mobile Employee

Hi @peche .

iD Mobile does support RCS on Android devices via the Google Messages app. However, at the moment it is limited to Android-to-Android messaging and does not include support for Apple iOS (iPhones).

For iPhone users, RCS is not yet available on the network, but this is something iD Mobile is working on in collaboration with Three, with the aim of enabling it in a future update.

If you are using an Android device and RCS is not working, please make sure you are using the Google Messages app and that “RCS chats” are enabled in the app settings.

Thanks,

Marquerita

The iD Mobile Team

Did my comment help answer your question? If so, don't forget to mark the response as the Most Helpful Answer.

M

Mace242

Active Contributor

Hi @peche .

iD Mobile does support RCS on Android devices via the Google Messages app. However, at the moment it is limited to Android-to-Android messaging and does not include support for Apple iOS (iPhones).

For iPhone users, RCS is not yet available on the network, but this is something iD Mobile is working on in collaboration with Three, with the aim of enabling it in a future update.

If you are using an Android device and RCS is not working, please make sure you are using the Google Messages app and that “RCS chats” are enabled in the app settings.

Thanks,

Marquerita

The iD Mobile Team

That’s not totally true, is it? You can have RCS on iPhone on 3. You just need to spend money on servers in order to implement it as the work is done at server level on iOS but by Google on Android (why it only works on Google Messenger). ID just don’t want to spend the money on servers.

Owethu M

iD Mobile Employee

Hi @peche,

I do apologise for the previous message.

I believe that’s a completely fair question, especially as iD Mobile uses the Three network.

The main reason is that although iD Mobile operates on Three’s infrastructure, iD Mobile is still a separate MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). Features such as RCS on iPhone don’t automatically transfer across simply because the underlying network supports them.

For Apple/iPhone RCS specifically, there are additional requirements beyond basic network access, including:

Carrier bundle certification with Apple
Backend provisioning and messaging configuration
Integration and testing between Apple, Google, the network provider, and the MVNO itself

This is why a feature can exist on Three directly but still not yet be enabled on iD Mobile.

Owethu

M

Mace242

Active Contributor

Hi @peche,

I do apologise for the previous message.

I believe that’s a completely fair question, especially as iD Mobile uses the Three network.

The main reason is that although iD Mobile operates on Three’s infrastructure, iD Mobile is still a separate MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). Features such as RCS on iPhone don’t automatically transfer across simply because the underlying network supports them.

For Apple/iPhone RCS specifically, there are additional requirements beyond basic network access, including:

Carrier bundle certification with Apple
Backend provisioning and messaging configuration
Integration and testing between Apple, Google, the network provider, and the MVNO itself

This is why a feature can exist on Three directly but still not yet be enabled on iD Mobile.

Owethu

It’s the backend infrastructure ID aren’t willing to spend on.

M

Michael Z

iD Mobile Employee

Hi @Mace242

We will continue to keep customers updated regarding the availability of the RCS Chats feature for Apple iPhone users.

At the moment, the feature is currently unavailable. We do apologise for the inconvenience caused.

Mchael Z

Did my comment help answer your question? If so, don't forget to mark the response as the Most Helpful Answer.

K

kieo

New Contributor

@kieo -

As a MVNO, our access to RCS is determined by our network partner Three. We're working closely with them to get this on iOS as soon as possible, we're hoping it'll be soon.

Are there any updates on this? I appreciate the response that it’s in the works, but it’s been over 2 months since that response. Has any progress been made?

M

Mace242

Active Contributor

@kieo -

As a MVNO, our access to RCS is determined by our network partner Three. We're working closely with them to get this on iOS as soon as possible, we're hoping it'll be soon.

Are there any updates on this? I appreciate the response that it’s in the works, but it’s been over 2 months since that response. Has any progress been made?

As far as I read it Three will make iD pay for servers to process RCS and iD won’t pay. They are making it up.

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