Pixel owners can't seem to catch a break: Android 13 breaks Google's iMessage-competitor for a number of users

Google has started rolling out Android 13 early to eligible Pixel devices. But, like every new version of Android, it has issues. This time, some Pixel users on the Google Fi network who are rocking Android 13 are unable to use RCS messaging on mobile data. Google has acknowledged the issue and says that it is working to resolve it.

Rich Communication Service (RCS) messaging is Android’s answer to Apple iMessage. Using a data connection, users of RCS can send and receive media-rich texts with end-to-end encryption just like iMessage. 9to5Google reports that some Pixel users on the Google Fi network haven’t been able to use RCS on mobile data after installing Android 13. The problem only seems to occur on mobile data and is a non-issue on Wi-Fi.

As it turns out, the RCS issue is not exclusive to the stable release of Android 13, since some users did encounter the problem during the beta period. Back then a Google employee recommended turning the Airplane Mode on, clearing the storage for Carrier Services and Messages, turning the Airplane Mode off, and trying RCS again.

Google has been trying to bridge the gap between Android and iOS’s approach to text messages. To that end, the company is working hard to get Apple to implement RCS in iOS. But Apple hasn’t budged so far.

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