RCS MESSAGING

[Dab2899]

With the introduction of RCS messaging to iOS 18, will O2 UK be supporting this feature for iPhones?

[gsmith45]

Yes, thanks - I've tried those steps but it didn't work for me.

[IanWebster]

@gsmith45 I had this problem and solved it as follows:

Settings > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings

Sounds scarier than it is. I just seems to re-download the O2 network settings and reboots your phone. All other settings and data remain unchanged. 

[gsmith45]

Thanks Ian.  Yes, I've tried that a few times and just tried again.  No luck!  Be aware that "reset network settings"  does seem to delete your wifi connections and change the name of your phone in settings though.  

[madasaf1sh]

To be brutally honest @gsmith45 you are not missing much by not having it activated, and the Apple implementation as I have said before is a joke and just a way to appease the Chinese regulators...

Did you have RCS working on giffgaff via an Android phone at all, as it might need to be removed from that number, before it can be activated again

Also multiple attempts can lock out the activation on the Google RCS servers,.... 

This thread may help https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/rcs-supported-carriers.2429980/ 

[gsmith45]

Thanks @madasaf1sh   I haven't had an android phone for a few years now, but I checked the thread you mentioned and did some googling and found this google site called: How to turn off RCS chats:  :  https://messages.google.com/disable-chat

When I entered my phone number it seemed to recognise me and sent me a verification code and I got a message that it would reset RCS on the Google servers.   I don't know if just anybody would get that message tbh, and I'm still waiting for my phone to activate.  Some folks online were saying "wait 10 days" after resetting....

tbh, I'm not sure I need RCS - I'm just working through the tail end of a LONG list of technical issues since I ported my phone over to O2 in December and experienced a "split port".  It was a long list, and now I'm down to (i) RCS not activating and (ii) not being able to SMS one specific person on Android/O2 - even though other people can SMS him and even though I can SMS him from my old phone with the same SIM.  I'm vaguely hoping that there is some sort of common root cause for these two, and that fixing one will magically fix the other.

Neither are major tbh, but after many weeks of partial phone/network capability, I'm still a bit paranoid about what other things are not working.

[madasaf1sh]

@gsmith45 

It can take that long for some reason, as dont think the service is instant but runs in batches every few days, and it does a sanity check.

Makes sense to rule it out, as that sounds a very odd issue on the new phone and not one I have come across. 

Is the number you have ported across a giffgaff number or did it start its life elsewhere as the network that issued the number will still have a bit of control over it. 

[gsmith45]

Thanks!  To your final question, my number started as Orange in 2003 ish and then migrated to O2 personal and then O2 business and then Giffgaff and then finally back to O2

[gsmith45]

Closing my own thread.  I've been getting quite a few calls from O2's network and faults teams on this issue, and it all seems to be resolved now.  They were working on the SMS issue first and were able to trace SMS leaving my phone, going into the network and then getting stuck.  Initially they didn't think that my RCS activation issue was linked, but my SMS messages started going through at exactly the same time that RCS was finally activated.  So anyway, the end to end time for fixing this was about a month after my split port.  

[phonek]

EDIT: 

OK, so it seems Apple's carrier support page is completely out of date, compared to the thread maintained at MacRumors forums: 

MacRumors: RCS supported carriers

Apple: What is the difference between iMessage, RCS and SMS/MMS?

Also check here on your device: 

About > Settings > "ESIM" section > "Network Provider" [tap on] > then shows "IMS Status" of "Voice, SMS & RCS" when enabled. 

(thanks to @madasaf1sh !)

Still wondering about this, anyone...?

"Wi-Fi Calling on supported iCloud-connected devices"

_______________ 

ORIGINAL POST: 

Q: Is RCS working using iOS 18.2 to 18.4, on O2? 

It ISN'T - at least according to Apple's features per carrier page as of today (Thu 9 Mar 2025), it's not listed there under O2? 

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/108048

compared to EE: 

Also, what actually is this?: 

• Wi-Fi Calling on supported iCloud-connected devices

I can use my Macs/iPads to make calls, so is this something different? 

[phonek]

RE: Wi-Fi Calling on supported iCloud-connected devices

Well this seems to be on O2 as well AFAICT. So does this just mean the Apple carrier support webpage is just massively out of date??

Apple: Make a call with Wi-Fi Calling

Or am I missing something....again?