Like a text message on Android and send message reactions!
Anyone with an iPhone knows that liking a text message is easy, but it's not so simple on Android. While reacting to messages on the top-end-to-end encrypted messaging apps is commonplace, reacting to messages on Android requires you to activate RCS messaging. The Rich Chatting Service (RCS) standard is a significant improvement over SMS/MMS messaging. It introduced features like read receipts, typing indicators, and message reactions.
We walk you through how to turn on RCS messaging on your phone and how to like a text message. This feature is available on all Android phones, including our favorite budget devices.
Newer Android phones often have RCS enabled by default, but you may need to activate it manually. You'll also need to ensure your messaging app is RCS-enabled. Most Android phones use the RCS-enabled Google Messages as its default messaging app, which we highly recommend using regardless, thanks to its array of valuable features.
We show you how to enable RCS messaging on the Google Messages and Samsung Messages apps.
Now that you have turned on RCS messaging on your Android smartphone, you can like a text message or send message reactions.
Apart from liking, you can choose and send any emoji as a message reaction. There are hundreds of supported emojis in RCS, giving you a variety of reactions that you can use as a response. You can even change your message reaction if required.
RCS chat is a great way to communicate between Android devices, but communicating with Apple devices becomes more complicated as its iMessage standard does not integrate well with RCS. We recommend using one of the best messaging apps if you communicate regularly with Apple users.
Jon has been a freelance writer at Android Police since 2021. He primarily writes how-to guides and round-ups, but occasionally covers news. His favorite Android device was the Pixel 2 XL, and he regards the three-month period where he owned an iPhone as a time of the utmost shame. Jon graduated with a History degree in 2018, but quickly realized his writing skills were better put to use writing about tech rather than essays. He started writing and editing for startups shortly after graduating, where he did everything from writing website copy to managing and editing for a group of writers. In his free time, you can find him fiddling with computers and spending his entire paycheck on vinyl records.
Rachit is a voracious reader who loves technology and likes to help people get the most out of their devices.