iOS 18 beta 2 users have discovered the RCS messaging toggle on test devices However, this feature will likely not work until the final release

One of the long-awaited features announced for iOS 18 at Apple's WWDC presentation was long-awaited support for Rich Communication Services (RCS)

This feature was noticeably missing in iOS 18 beta 1, but that seems to be changing in the newly released iOS 18 beta 2, with certain users reporting that they see an option to toggle RCS on However, users who can see this toggle cannot actually use RCS messaging, at least not yet

According to a recent report from 9to5Mac, RCS Communications is working with carriers to update Apple's carrier bundles (collections of files that help set up devices to work with specific cell phone services) for iOS 18 This is necessary, and so far only a few companies have done so

This may also explain why only a few users found the option in the first place Since carriers will likely complete the process by September, the planned stable release date for iOS 18, this may mean that beta users will not be able to test features before release

RCS is key to improving messaging compatibility between iPhones and Android phones, but Apple has long opposed the feature For years, the company cited security concerns from not requiring end-to-end encryption for RCS services to function as a reason for not adopting the new standard

, but since the older SMS options had the same security issues, Apple simply decided to make the important The announcement that RCS would be coming to the iPhone left many wondering how it would be implemented

While beta users may not have had the opportunity to try out the RCS feature, there is still plenty in the iOS 18 beta that they can try out

Users can try out all the new options for customizing the phone's home and lock screens iOS 18 also includes several quality of life improvements, such as allowing the iPhone to alert the user if the iPhone is charging slowly

This news is not new

While this news is disappointing, it at least shows that Apple is working on this feature, and we hope that once iOS 18 is released, communication with our Android-using friends will be better

For more features coming to Apple products, check out our WWDC breakdown of everything we know about iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and more