Why do my texts keep switching between RCS and SMS on iPhone?

I’m trying to talk to someone over text who has an android, but every text i send is being sent as SMS and all of theirs are being sent as RCS. It keeps flipping back and forth and it’s annoying.




[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPhone 11, iOS 18

Posted on Nov 29, 2024 03:22 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 13, 2025 08:35 PM

You are going to want to turn off RCS in your Messages settings, then turn on Airplane mode. After that, restart your phone. Then go back in, enable the RCS setting and THEN turn off Airplane mode and it should work.


This is assuming you have the bug where your contact’s messages come through as RCS, but yours still come through as SMS. And make sure they are the one who sent the most recent message, so the latest chat came through as RCS.


If you’re not already receiving as RCS, I don’t know if this will work. Apple pls fix

105 replies

Jul 31, 2025 07:05 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

And yet, I don't suggest the initial label, of "phone", the device does during initial save.

It's also not selectable again, because it isn't in the list at all, after.


This is a vCard standard formatting issue.


As soon as I change the label to one that exists from the list, either while storing the contact initially or once RCS breaks, it immediately restores RCS.


For the two contacts this had been happening the moment I picked a label that actually existed in the list, RCS worked. When I deleted then re-added the contact with the default "phone" labels, RCS broke.

Not here to argue, sharing what worked and reliably. What's your suggestion?

Why do my texts keep switching between RCS and SMS on iPhone?

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