DYI Repairs: RCS Chat Meaning: How to Enable and Disable RCS Messaging

If you send text messages quite often, you probably know something about the Rich Communication Service message, commonly referred to as RCS. While SMS remains fully functional and is still used by many people, it was beginning to feel outdated with its old-timey limitations like the 160-character limit and requiring a cellular network connection to send messages. People have been yearning for a new messaging service that’s both modern and less restrictive.

Provided by Google and adopted by many smartphone manufacturers and carriers, RCS is this new service that’s enriching the traditional SMS. It’s a new texting protocol that has brought messaging (SMS and MMS) to the modern era, providing capabilities such as sending and receiving messages using the internet rather than the traditional cellular service, the ability to send and receive high-resolution media, improved group chats, read receipts, and much more.

RCS simply offers many advanced messaging features compared to traditional SMS messaging and this makes it a compelling alternative. This post will explain RCS chat meaning, how RCS messaging works, and how to turn on RCS chat on Android if you want to improve your texting experience. I’ll show you too how to turn off RCS messaging on Android if you don’t prefer using it.

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RCS Chat Meaning

RCS chat means Rich Communication Services which is an advanced communication protocol that was created in 2007 by Google in conjunction with GSMA, its members, as well as carriers around the world. It upgrades the traditional messaging service (SMS), providing a much better experience and functioning for Android users just like popular over-the-top (OTT) communications apps such as WhatsApp and iMessage.

RCS has a very simple concept. It’s an IP-based communication service, meaning it sends and receives communications via WiFi or a mobile data plan. Another notable thing is that users don’t need to download and install a new third-party app to use RCS chat on Android because the service is used right within the phone’s native messaging app.

The RCS update also offers users more modern, feature-rich communications features that include encrypted messaging, group chats, high-resolution photos or videos, real-time branded messages, real-time typing indicators, read receipts, location sharing, and much more. These are features often found in popular IP-based communications services like Facebook WhatsApp, and iMessage.

Another thing to note about RCS is that it’s an open standard. Any device can utilize the service at no cost at all or the concern over inoperability. For a device to send or receive RCS messages, it must be connected to Wi-Fi or at least the LTE/5G data network service. All the data or RCS messages sent and received usually counts against the mobile carrier data plans set for the phone.

SMS Meaning

SMS is a communication protocol just like the RCS chats but like voice calls it uses a cellular network to send and receive communications. The updated version of SMS is MMS which stands for Multimedia Messaging Service. This service utilizes the same protocols and transmission methods as SMS to send and receive media like images, audio, and video. While sending and receiving messages using SMS doesn’t count against the mobile carrier data plans, the MMS pay-load caps per message are set much higher to cover the larger file sizes of multimedia content. Users can find MMS quite useful when IP-based services are not available but cellular voice access is available.

RCS vs SMS: What’s the Difference?

Now that you know what RCS chat means, let’s compare RCS vs SMS to see what sets them apart. The key difference between them is that RCS sends and receives messages through mobile data and Wi-Fi, meaning it requires internet connectivity, while SMS sends and receives messages directly over the cellular network. Another key difference is in text capabilities where SMS has a 160-character limit while for RCS, you can send up to 250, 000 characters in one message.

There’s a difference too in the media capabilities of the two services. You can send high-resolution photos (JPG and PNG) and video using RCS and even suggested actions and replies for your users while you can’t include images, video, or suggested actions when using SMS – you can use MMS, though, to send images and links in messages.

Like third-party messaging services (WhatsApp) RCS verifies messages and provides message encryptions before delivering them. SMS doesn’t offer these security functionalities. SMS also offers text chat features while RCS provides quick-reply buttons and other interactive buttons.

Despite the difference, one thing these two messaging services share in common is usability. Both of them require no downloading of any third-party app because you can find them within the native messaging app on any Android user’s mobile device.

How to Enable RCS Messaging on Android

Ensure first that your text messaging app has RCS before you can take full advantage of its services. Many SMS apps support RCS but I won’t provide instructions for each one of them. Google Messages is a texting app that most Android owners use and that’s what I’ll focus on in this section because it’s usually already installed on Android phones.

If it’s already pre-installed on your device but not yet activated, Google Messages will prompt you to activate it before you set it up. These are steps you should follow to turn on RCS chat on Android.

Tap the icon of the Google Messages app to open it.
Go to your profile icon (check the top-right corner) and tap it.
From the options that appear, select Messages settings.
Tap on RCS chats which is the first option.

Tap the toggle next to “Turn on RCS chats” if it’s off (the circle is on the left side).
Next, click on “Verify your number” if asked. Verify your number and RCS will be enabled on your phone.

Once you’ve turned on RCS chats (the circle of the toggle is on the right side) and successfully connected, you can start using RCS. If you reset your phone or it’s the first time you’re opening your Google Messages app, just follow the steps above to turn on RCS. You’ll know you’re sending RCS messages when you see your input dialog box saying RCS message or Chat message.

How to Enable RCS Message on a Samsung Phone

Samsung’s messaging app is also used widely. It comes second to the Google Messaging app with regards to popularity considering that Samsung itself is a highly popular smartphone manufacturer. If you’re rocking a Samsung phone, here’s how to enable RCS chat on a Samsung iPhone.

Get to your Samsung Messages app and open it.
Locate the three-dot menu button and tap on it.
Open Settings and select Chat features.
Go to Enable chat features and turn it on. You may get a different menu. You may need to tap Start.
Now, enable RCS by following the displayed instructions.

How to Disable RCS Chat on Android

While RCS offers many benefits, not everyone likes to use it, even if it comes pre-installed. Some don’t like it because it fails to send messages sometimes while others find the RCS chart service notification annoying because it keeps popping up. If you’re in one of these categories or for some other reason you wish to turn off RS messaging, then here are the steps on how to turn off RCS messaging you should follow.

Tap the Google Messages icon to open the app.
Go to your profile picture/account icon and tap it.
Open Messages settings and select RCS chats.
Tap the toggle beside “Turn on RCS chats” to off position (circle to the left).
You’ll see a confirmation pop up, tap on Turn Off to confirm.

How to Disable RCS Chat in Samsung Messages

If you don’t want to use RCS on your Samsung phone, follow these steps on how to turn off RCS chats in Samsung messages.

Go to your Samsung Messages app.
Locate the three-dot icon and choose Settings.
Open Chat settings and tap the toggle beside the Chat feature to turn it off.

How to Disable RCS Chat Without Your Old Phone

If you don’t want anything to do with RCS chats on your new Android device, you can turn it off on your old Android device. You can use the methods provided above if you’re able to access your old phone. If you can’t, Google offers an alternative method to turn off RCS messaging without your old phone.

Open a browser on your PC or phone and visit the Disable Chat in Google Messages page.
Go to the “Without your device” option (scroll down to see it).
Choose your country and type in the phone number you used to register RCS. You’ll get a 6-digit verification code on your phone.
Go back to the website page and type in the verification code into the box you see on the website.
Go to the Verify button and click on it to turn off RCS messaging.

What Happens When You Turn Off RCS Messaging On Android

The moment you turn off RCS chat, you won’t send or receive messages over the internet anymore. All the new messages (sent or received) will go back to the traditional SMS/MMS text format unless you turn on RCS chats again. You’ll get charged only for regular SMS. All the RCS features including typing indicators, reactions, read receipts, being able to send high-quality images and so on will be disabled too. You won’t be able to access them.

Note: You can’t disable RCS from the Google Messages that you access through the web.

FAQs About RCS Chat Meaning and Turning it On/Off

1. Can I turn off RCS for a single contact?

No. You can only turn off RCS messaging for everyone.

2. Can I use RCS on my iPhone?

No, you can’t because RCS messaging is only available on Android phones from almost all brands such as Samsung, Huawei, OnePlus, etc. Apple smartphones don’t support RCS but have its proprietary messaging system known as iMessage.

3. Can I turn on RCS again after turning it off?

Yes, once you turn off RCS you can still turn it on again by following the steps above on how to turn on RCS messaging on Android.

4. How can I send a single message as SMS but not RCS?

Check the message to see if it’s delivered. If it isn’t, tap the message and then go to the timestamp of the same undelivered message and tap it. Now, tap the switch to text option.

5. How can I use RCS chat if the messaging app on my phone doesn’t support it?

If your phone is running Android, then you have options you can consider. If your default SMS support can’t work with RCS, you can go to the Google Play Store and get the official Google Messages app or any other messaging app that supports RCS.

6. Does RCS support all carriers?

Unfortunately, your carrier needs to support RCS for it to work. Fortunately, most carriers, especially in markets are coming on board. The three major American carriers, for instance, support RCS, and many smaller MVNO carriers are also catching up to this.

Conclusion

RCS is no doubt the evolution of SMS. It offers plenty of benefits that are bound to improve our messaging experience in this modern era. Many consider it a more convenient and efficient communication platform compared to SMS and even some OTT counterparts like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Telegram. Some are annoyed by it, though, pointing out that sometimes it doesn’t send messages.

Nevertheless, whether you want to try it or not, this article has covered everything you need to know about RCS to help you make an informed decision. You now know what RCS means, how it works, and how to enable or disable it on your Android phone. So, give it a try.

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

RCS Chat Meaning: How to Enable and Disable RCS Messaging