When iOS 27 arrives next month, you’ll be able to reply to a specific green chat bubble (i.e. an Android message) in a Messages conversation on your iPhone.
All you have to do is long-press on the message, tap Reply, then type your reply. It will be received by the recipient as a true threaded response (i.e. an inline response), linking it directly to the message in question. It’s the same with reactions: react to a shared photo and your contact will see the desired emoji instead of a message saying you “liked an image.”
This is all due to Apple’s adoption of RCS Universal Profile 3.0, the GSMA standard that it helped publish and has adopted in stages. Universal Profile 2.4 first appeared in iOS 18 in September 2024, but it did not support inline responses. Come September, on iPhone support, that will finally change.
Keep in mind that functionality also depends on carrier support on both ends. Even before updating to iOS 27, you can see if your device is ready for the change: just go to Settings ➝ Apps ➝ Messages ➝ RCS Messaging and check that the RCS Messaging toggle is enabled. If the setting is not displayed in said menu, your carrier has not yet enabled the feature.
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