iOS 27 upgrades Messages app with key new features for RCS

iOS 27 beta 2 arrived today for developer testing, and it includes some welcome new features for RCS conversations in the Messages app.

iOS 27 makes RCS better with latest Messages features, including replies and improved reactions

Apple’s Messages app benefits from a variety of new features in iOS 27, like helpful AI suggestions, more personalized Smart Replies, and more.

But some of the best upgrades might be related to RCS.

Today following iOS 27 beta 2’s arrival, Aaron Perris discovered that the update adds at least two key RCS improvements:

Proper reaction support, so no more “Aaron loved an image” messages In-line replies

New in iOS 27: If you react to an image sent via RCS, it will now properly display on the Android user's end instead of saying "Aaron loved an image" — Aaron (@aaronp613) June 22, 2026

These changes are part of the RCS 2.7 standard, which means there may be even more improvements coming in iOS 27.

The ability to edit and unsend messages, for example, are also part of RCS 2.7. So it’s very possible Apple has more improvements coming.

With these latest RCS upgrades, alongside recently launched end-to-end encryption support, RCS is a lot closer to replicating the iMessage experience.

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