Rich Communications Services, or RCS, brings enhanced functionality to standard text messaging, such as encryption and read receipts. Google and Samsung have worked together for expanding the reach of RCS, but it now appears that some users with Galaxy phones are having issues with RCS.
It's unclear if this is a device specific issue for now, or whether it's a general bug in RCS that can easily be fixed through a server-side update, but there are enough reports to merit looking into this in more detail.
RCS doesn't seem to be working as well as its should for some users
Users complain about experiencing this issue with multiple recipients on Samsung's messages app, where none of the RCS messages they send go through, but when they switch over to Google's messaging app, everything appears to work fine.
Others also contributed their observations that the people whose chats they find constantly switching between RCS and conventional SMS have Samsung devices. It's unclear what may be causing this, as there's little guidance on the matter from Google or Samsung.
Some users have shared tips and fixes that have helped clear things up for them. One involved force stopping the app and clearing the app. However, in some cases, the issue tends to reappear after a while, prompting users to redo this entire process.
It's obviously far from ideal, particularly for those who use these messaging apps primarily, compared to other options like WhatsApp. Hopefully, whatever's causing this minor inconvenience to users will be addressed soon.
