Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is lastly beginning to roll out the flexibility for Android customers to edit RCS messages despatched to iPhones, a characteristic beforehand unavailable cross-platform.
- Made doable by the brand new Common Profile 3.0 specification, customers can long-press a despatched message to edit and resend it inside a 15-minute window.
- The characteristic is in restricted testing and isn’t excellent but, as edited texts presently seem as a brand new message on iPhones and iPhones can’t edit messages despatched to Android units.
For years, textual content messaging between Android and iOS was a horrible expertise, however that has lately modified due to Wealthy Communication Companies (RCS). This new messaging commonplace dramatically improves texting between iPhones and Androids by enabling options like high-quality media sharing, learn receipts, and typing indicators. Whereas sure options had been lacking when cross-platform RCS launched final yr, Google and Apple are step by step introducing them. For example, the flexibility to edit a message despatched from an Android telephone to an iPhone is now lastly beginning to roll out.
iPhone customers have lengthy been in a position to edit iMessages despatched to different iPhones, and Android customers have loved the identical functionality for a couple of yr when utilizing RCS to message one another. Nevertheless, when Google first launched this characteristic on Android, it wasn’t a part of the official RCS specification. Since Apple primarily based its implementation on the official commonplace on the time (Common Profile 2.4) that didn’t outline message enhancing, the characteristic was unavailable for cross-platform chats.
That modified earlier this yr when the GSM Affiliation launched the Common Profile 3.0 specification, which provides assist for each message enhancing and end-to-end encryption. Over the previous week, a number of customers, together with myself, have gained the flexibility to edit RCS messages despatched to iPhone customers. After sending a message, I can long-press it to disclose a pencil icon. Tapping this icon fills the reply field with the unique textual content, permitting me to edit and resend it.
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
This characteristic works for me when sending RCS messages to iPhone customers working the newest steady launch of iOS 18.5 and the iOS 26 beta, in particular person and group chats, inside the 15-minute window that presently exists for Android-to-Android and iPhone-to-iPhone message enhancing.
Whereas it appears to be like and capabilities as anticipated on the Android facet, the edited message presently seems on the iPhone as a brand new message preceded by an asterisk. Moreover, iPhone customers aren’t in a position to edit RCS messages they ship to Android customers. Apple will probably must replace its Messages app to deal with RCS message enhancing correctly, although there’s no phrase on when which may occur. We hope full assist for message enhancing will arrive alongside the cross-platform end-to-end encryption characteristic that Apple and Google pledged to assist earlier this yr.
The power to edit RCS messages despatched to iPhone customers isn’t broadly out there but in Google Messages. I’ve solely seen two different stories of the characteristic rolling out: one from a Reddit consumer final week and one other from one among my followers at present. Google is probably going A/B testing this with beta customers, so most individuals will most likely have to attend for a wider launch.
