RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging was introduced in iOS 18. If your phone carrier supports it, it is used when sending messages to Android phones. On iOS 17 and earlier (as well as on phone carriers that are yet to support RCS), SMS and MMS are used to send these messages.

By default, Mozilla VPN does not affect RCS messages. However, iOS users who have disabled the “Bypass VPN for select traffic” toggle may not be able to send or receive RCS messages.

Users who disable the Mozilla VPN “Bypass VPN for select traffic” option should also disable RCS in iOS System Settings to continue messaging with Android users.

Disabling the RCS protocol means that messages to Android devices will be received and delivered using the SMS and MMS protocols, just as they were before iOS 18.

What caused the issue?

RCS messaging is IP-based. It is not compatible with a strict VPN policy, where all traffic is routed through a VPN tunnel. This is likely due to the carrier receiving messages from the VPN’s unexpected IP addresses.

Workaround: Disable RCS Messaging

Follow these steps to disable RCS messaging on your iPhone when using Mozilla VPN.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Scroll down and tap Messages.
3. In the Messages settings, locate and tap RCS Messaging (if available).
   • If the RCS Messaging option is not shown, then your carrier doesn’t support RCS yet.
4. Toggle RCS Messaging off.

Related articles

• What is Mozilla VPN and how does it work?
• Download Mozilla VPN on your desktop or mobile device
• Use Multi-Account Containers with Mozilla VPN