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The big three US carriers have RCS on iPhone, but what about prepaid? Here are your options so far
The arrival of RCS to the iPhone means that communication between Android and iPhone users is about to get much easier for those in the US. It’s true this matters less to other countries as most of these regions use WhatsApp universally, but RCS is increasingly important for those stateside.
Android users don’t have to worry about whether their carrier directly supports RCS or not, as the functionality is baked into the Google Messages app itself. The situation is different for iPhone owners, as Apple Messages doesn’t support RCS directly. This means you’ll only get RCS messages if your carrier supports it.
AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have all enabled RCS support already, as do regional carriers like US Cellular and C Spire. Unfortunately, the process will take longer for some prepaid carriers. While Apple has a webpage that keeps a list of supported providers, I noticed it was missing a few of the newer entries including Boost Mobile (okay, technically it’s not just a prepaid carrier anymore, but we’re counting it). Below is a short guide that has a few additions beyond what is officially listed on Apple’s website. I’ll continually add to it as new prepaid networks add support for RCS.
The good news is that 14 prepaid providers have already fully made the switch:
- Boost Mobile
- Consumer Cellular
- Cricket mobile
- FirstNet
- H20 Wireless
- Metro by T-Mobile
- PureTalk
- Red Pocket
- Spectrum Mobile
- Straight Talk
- TracFone
- Visible
- Xfinity Mobile
It’s worth mentioning that US Mobile also supports RCS for those on its Warp 5G network (Verizon), but Light Speed (T-Mobile) and Dark Star (AT&T) don’t work with RCS just yet. US Mobile says the feature will likely arrive on its other networks by Q2 2025.
That’s it for all the providers that provide support (even if limited, in US Mobile’s case) right now, though many are likely to join in the coming months. In fact, Mint Mobile revealed months ago on Reddit that it should have support for RCS sometime between December and Q2 of 2025. Ultra Mobile is also expected to see support around the same time.