RCS: Waiting for Universal Profile 3.0 in iOS 26

With iOS 18, Apple has released the opportunity for its news app not a year ago to send and receive messages as part of the SMS successor Rich Communication Services (RCS). However, the iPhone manufacturer has not implemented all the possibilities of the technology, which is particularly pushed by Google. With iOS 26 this should actually change and support the so -called Universal Profile 3.0. The problem: In the previous beta versions of the next iPhone operating system, this has not yet been included. This is what testers of the latest developer version report.

Five functions, all important

RCS 3.0 should bring at least five central new functions to the iPhone. At first Apple wants to finally make the SMS successor safer: RCS messages are currently not yet encrypted and can be read by Apple itself (at least theoretically) and the mobile phone providers.

Under Android, Google takes care of the encryption of device to device, but Apple wants to implement this using RCS 3.0. It is still unclear whether it works with all carriers, and it is obviously not intended to activate the encryption by default and also in group chats. Without beta, however, this is not yet understandable.

Waiting for the beta

The new functions two to five comprise in-line answers (replies) on RCS messages, the opportunity to subsequently edit messages, withdrawing messages and extensive support for tapbacks with emojis (is currently not correct). Some things are at least implemented by the other. In this way, Android betrayers have recently been able to edit messages to iOS users, although this leads to a new release. With RCS 3.0, however, this will be done transparently at the actual message.

Apple currently supports the Universal Profile 2.4 with iOS 18. It is unclear when iOS 26 then brings RCS 3.0. However, it had already taken a while in the beta phase of iOS 18 until RCS could be tested at all – the third version of the previous previous was started. But this was exactly what Apple had recently delivered for iOS 26. It is conceivable that Apple still has to make agreements with mobile phone providers before RCS 3.0 can really be tested. Users are currently waiting for the First public beta by iOS 26.