One of the main reasons why group chats are preferred over either Apple iMessage Or Sending RCS SMS via Google Messages This is the increased level of control and security that both services allow. Whether you’re an iPhone owner and everyone in your group is texting from an Apple device or you’re part of an Android team chatting with other Android users via RCS, your conversations have privacy indicators. typing, high-quality media sharing and, when you need your phone to buzz less, the ability to mute a conversation or leave it altogether. Most importantly, both iMessage and RCS group chats on Google Messages offer end-to-end encryption, unless you’re in a chat thread with a mix of iPhone and Android phone owners.
And with the inclusion of RCS support with iOS 18group chats that include a mix of iPhone and Android participants have more features than ever – but it’s definitely not at the level you’ll experience when a conversation takes place entirely on iMessage or Google Messages. “Green bubble chats” from an iPhone to an Android phone can now include typing indicators, higher quality media, and easier group chats.
Unfortunately, RCS conversations between iPhone and Android phones do not include encryption at this time, which became a problem after the FBI and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency recently warned that unencrypted conversations could be at risk in an ongoing cyberattack targeting wireless carriers. But the RCS standard is under development and this cross-platform encryption capability could arrive in time.
For conversations that don’t use iMessage or RCS, these group chats fall back to MMS, a decades-old text messaging standard that’s compatible with all phones and carriers, but it wasn’t designed to include the features of messaging that we are used to.
Learn more: Best iPhone of 2023
No matter how you participate in a group chat with others, you have the option to leave a chat. Here are the steps to follow to leave any conversation from your phone’s text messaging app, whether it’s over iMessage, RCS, or a mixed MMS chat.
Leave group chats on an iPhone
You can leave group conversations on your iPhone in two ways. You can either mute a chat, which keeps you in a conversation but you no longer receive notifications about it, or you can leave altogether and no longer have access to the chat.
The option to leave a conversation appears in iMessage chats with four or more participants.
On an iPhone, open Messages and navigate to the thread you want to leave. At the top of the screen are the chat controls, a group of icons with participants. Tap it to open a context menu. As long as your conversation has four or more participants, iOS gives you the option to tap Leave this conversation with red text. If your chat has three or fewer participants, the option is grayed out, but you can tap Hide alerts to prevent the conversation from alerting you further. Tapping Hide alerts also allows you to mute a conversation, allowing you to maintain access to a chat without necessarily leaving it. These steps apply to both iMessage conversations and those via RCS.
Hide and block MMS chats on an iPhone
Although you can’t officially leave MMS group chats, you can hide or block the conversation. It’s not as good as leaving a conversation outright (other participants will still see you as in this one), but at least you don’t have any personal evidence that the conversation is still going on.
On an iPhone, visit the group chat and tap the chat controls. Instead of seeing Leave this conversationyou will see the option to Delete and block this conversation. If you prefer to just mute the conversation instead of deleting and blocking it, you can tap Hide alerts to mute it.
Instead of leaving a conversation, iOS offers the option to delete and block an MMS group chat.
Leave group chats on an Android phone
On an Android phone using Google Messages, visit the thread you want to leave. Tap the conversation name to view the Group details menu. At the bottom of the screen, tap the Leave the group button. Unlike iMessage, you can leave chats with only three participants.
The Leave Group button appears for RCS conversations with three or more participants.
If you just want to turn off notifications, tap Notifications on the Group details screen to display a window with notification controls. This includes options for keeping the conversation Silent to prevent it from ringing your conversation, and if you press Lock screen, a context menu will give you the option to prevent notifications. Faucet Don’t show notifications at all to activate.
Hide and Block MMS Chats on Android Phone
On an Android phone with Google Messages, follow the same steps to access the notification control options. This involves visiting the MMS chat thread and then tapping either the name of the conversation or the names of the participants at the top to view the message. Group details menu. You will not see any Leave the group option as you did with an RCS wire, but you get the same ability to exploit Notifications to access controls for hiding the conversation. This includes the same options for turning the conversation into Silent and to select Don’t show notifications at all.
SMS vs. MMS vs. RCS
SMS stands for Short Message Service and debuted in 1992. Text messages are limited to 160 characters. MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service and supports sending photos, videos or other files and messages longer than 160 characters. MMS supports a group of people chatting in a single conversation thread, while SMS can text multiple people at once but is sent as individual messages to each person. RCS, launched 15 years ago, is short for Rich Communication Services and can display keystroke indicators, read receipts and has end-to-end encryption.
Although cross-platform chat apps such as WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram have better controls for conversations, encryption and privacy, regardless of the type of phone participants use, they do not support SMS, MMS or RCS. This is why the default messaging app on most phones is still widely used, even if it means a group chat relies on a less feature-rich and insecure standard like MMS.
Watch this: iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra: Camera comparison
