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After countless ads and several years of Google requests, RCS has finally come to Apple’s Messages app. It’s currently only available as part of iOS 18’s second beta, ahead of the full release later this fall, but for brave beta testers, it’s really, really here. So I did what any good journalist would do (especially one using Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile because they’re the only supported carriers)—I fired up my iPhone and texted the most tech-savvy person I could find. I know: my father. After all, what could possibly go wrong if I explained what it should do while testing Messages’ RCS for myself for the first time? Surprisingly, almost nothing.

Before I could use my Android-using dad as an RCS guinea pig, I had to do a few things. The first was to let him know I was going to move my phone number around – a courtesy since he gets emails from Verizon every time I do (sorry dad).

The second was to opt into Apple’s developer program, pull an iPhone 14 Plus test unit out of retirement, and set it up with the latest iOS 18 beta. Those two steps took about three times as long as the rest of the process ( including walking my dad through the different ways I needed him to respond to messages).

Then it was time to jump into the RCS-powered future, and by that I mean flipping a switch in the Settings app. Seriously, that’s all for now for beta testers of the latest build.

From there, it was time to send my first RCS text message on the iPhone, so I decided to start with an easier one – digging into Apple finally getting the message. Next, it was time to test a few basics of RCS: the ability to react to messages and send read receipts from Android to iOS. I asked my dad to respond to my first message and he returned the thumbs up – both to my original message and to my request for a reaction. Both responses were smooth and immediate, a huge improvement over the generic SMS alert on iOS 17 and earlier, and much closer to what we see from Apple’s iMessage service between Apple devices.

I also noticed that I didn’t need to test read receipts through RCS — they are turned on by default. There also doesn’t seem to be a way to turn them off, as there is only one switch for all RCS settings, so you’re either in or out. Personally, I hope Apple adds the ability to toggle read receipts later, as I don’t usually use them, but it’s beta software after all.

The other main appeal of introducing RCS to Messages is the ability to send full-resolution videos and images from Android to iOS, just like you can with iMessage between iPhones. After all, there’s nothing worse than having a friend take a great photo of you only to send it to you in low resolution. So, I asked my dad to send a photo and video, and he did it in a way that only a dad could – with a comic about making beer and a video of him checking the gutters in the house I grew up in.

After I finished shaking my head, I realized that both went through exactly as if they were sent from another iPhone. The comic was crystal clear and the video came out much better than the Patterson-Gimlin resolution I often get when he sends me a clip. It’s a huge improvement over the SMS and MMS struggles both sides are used to, and a sign that Google was probably right all along.

RCS on the iPhone also lets you send stickers from your existing set and GIFs from Apple’s #images library, so I sent my dad one of each. Unfortunately, it seems that Apple still hasn’t ironed out the reactions to these, as I got the dreaded “Thumbs up for GIF” and “Thumbs up for photo” in response. Interestingly, when I reacted to the video my dad sent, it was a thumbs up from me, but a basic text response from his.

So the experience is still not perfect. Yes, iOS 18 is still in development, but I ran into another surprising problem while receiving videos from my dad. While I had no problems opening and playing clips, there was no way to control them once they started playing. The play button disappears almost immediately, and Apple’s usual slider across the bottom edge is nowhere to be found. If I wanted to go back and pause at an earlier point in the clip, I had to exit it and start over—not a huge problem in a 10-second clip, but very annoying for anything much longer than that. -long.

So there you have it – Apple has completely changed the messaging game by bringing RCS to Messages. We can finally have peace and harmony between Android and iOS, especially since the two mobile platforms are getting closer together and sharing more features than ever before. You can place apps anywhere on your iPhone’s home screen, change the color of their icons, and react to messages on other platforms. What else is there?

Oh yeah, the green bubbles still exist, so Android users will probably still face the stigma of choosing a Pixel or Galaxy device over an iPhone. That’s good though. Now when you take a great photo of your friends using the Pixel 8 Pro or shoot a video with 50x zoom on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, you can send it to your friends in its original quality!

Cynicism and baiting aside, bringing RCS to Messages feels great. As much as I don’t like automatic read receipts, I liked my dad replying to my messages without his reaction sending additional text, and the input indicator means I know he’s actually replying instead of doing ‘dad stuff “. Maybe one day Android users (like me usually) will finally stop being sued for green text bubbles. Until then, this sure feels like a good start.

But what do you think? Will the iPhone’s RCS end the bullying of Android users with a green bubble when it rolls out later this fall? Tell us in the poll below.