Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR
- It turns out that Android phone owners can rename a group text for iOS owners in the group.
- Apple has long allowed any iPhone users in a group text to rename the group, though.
- By contrast, Google Messages previously allowed you to rename a group for your eyes only.
Apple recently released iOS 18 and one of the bigger additions is RCS support, offering a more modern messaging experience between Android phones and iPhones. However, it turns out there’s one group chat quirk you have to be aware of.
Redditor Dane_Gleessak noted that if someone with an Android phone changes the name of a group text, the name will be changed for iOS users in the group text as well. That’s a major change compared to Google Messages on Android, which allows you to rename group texts for your eyes only.
It’s worth noting that Apple has long allowed anyone to change the name of a group text in iMessage as long as everyone in the group was using an iOS device. So RCS in iOS 18 effectively extends this capability to Android device owners.
By contrast, messaging apps like WhatsApp offer several options for name changes. You can allow anyone to change the group chat name or specify that only certain members have the privilege.
Nevertheless, Android phone owners should keep this change in mind when renaming group texts with iPhone-toting members. The last thing you want to do is give your church group chat a naughty name.