Telus, Koodo and Public roll out support for RCS on Pixel 4, LG phones

Telus is expanding its RCS support to more devices, including the Pixel 4 line and eligible LG smartphones.

The carrier told MobileSyrup that all Google and LG devices that meet its criteria will gain access to ‘Next-Gen Messaging’ — what it calls Rich Communication Services (RCS) — starting February 5th. Further, the RCS support rollout applies to Telus’ flanker brands Koodo and Public Mobile.

That means the Pixel 4, which didn’t have access to RCS with Telus or its brands at launch, now has RCS. MobileSyrup has already received some reports of Pixel 4 owners on the Telus network gaining access to RCS. It’s worth noting that before this, Telus and its brands only supported the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3 series, so the Pixel 3a should have RCS now as well.

Pixel 4 and 4 XL owners with Telus and its flanker brands, as well as Rogers and its brands, should now have RCS. Bell and its flanker brands, however, have not added RCS for any Pixel devices at the time of writing.

Telus’ criteria for RCS support on Google and LG devices are as follows:

• A Telus wireless monthly plan with data or an active Wi-Fi connection
• Android 5.1 Lollipop or higher
• Android Messages 4.3 or higher
• Telus consumer or business/corporate accounts

Telus customers who meet those criteria should have access to RCS on their Google or LG smartphones.

Further, MobileSyrup can confirm that RCS is live for Koodo customers as well. A Pixel 4 XL we tested on Koodo had access to RCS, but my Pixel 4 with Koodo still doesn’t have access.

On most devices, opening Android Messages, tapping the ‘overflow’ menu in the top right corner and then ‘Settings’ > ‘Chat features’ should tell you if you’re connected. If chat features is missing, you may not meet the criteria for RCS. Telus is planning to update its website with device tutorials to help people navigate these settings.

You can learn more about RCS on Telus’ website here.