Apple has seeded iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 Beta 2 to developers today, and the headline addition for cross-platform messaging is support for inline replies in RCS conversations with Android users, alongside a fix that shows Tapback emoji correctly on images and videos. Both changes close gaps that have made RCS chats feel noticeably worse than iMessage since Apple first added RCS support in iOS 18.
The inline reply feature works exactly as it does in iMessage: long-pressing a message in an RCS thread surfaces the reply option, letting you respond directly to a specific message rather than the conversation as a whole. For the threading to display correctly, both the sender and recipient need a smartphone and carrier that support RCS, so the experience depends partly on the Android user’s setup.
The reactions fix is equally straightforward but has been a persistent annoyance. In iOS 26, sending a Tapback on an image or video in an RCS chat produced a clunky text descriptor, something like “[x loved an image]”, rather than showing the emoji overlaid on the media. iOS 27 Beta 2 resolves that, displaying the reaction directly on the image or video the same way iMessage does.
Apple launched RCS in iOS 18 using the older Universal Profile 2.4, which covered the basics: read receipts, higher-quality photos, and typing indicators, but nothing more. The platform has been catching up incrementally ever since, with iOS 26.5 adding end-to-end encryption for iPhone-to-Android RCS messages, built on the Messaging Layer Security protocol as part of RCS Universal Profile 3.0. Inline replies and cross-platform Tapback support are also part of UP 3.0, so what’s landing in iOS 27 Beta 2 is Apple continuing to implement the same modern standard it began adopting with encryption earlier this year.
The combination of E2EE in iOS 26.5 and these two features in iOS 27 represents meaningful progress toward feature parity with iMessage for cross-platform chats, even if the green bubble still carries some limitations.
Other Beta 2 changes
The RCS improvements are the most user-facing additions, but Beta 2 also addresses several issues carried over from the first beta, which dropped two weeks ago following the WWDC 2026 keynote. The full list of notable changes includes:
- iPhone Mirroring between iOS 27 and macOS 27 Golden Gate is more reliable, fixing crash issues from beta 1 that affected resizing apps and returning to iPhone size.
- AirPods Max 2 can now update firmware, resolving a known issue that blocked updates in beta 1.
- The Apple Home app can now update an Apple TV 4K remotely, the same way it handles HomePod updates.
- The “Write with Siri” button now appears on the iPhone and iPad software keyboard, replacing Writing Tools.
- Siri AI response speed feels faster to early testers.
iOS 27 is compatible with every device that ran iOS 26, going back to the iPhone 11 and iPhone SE (2nd generation), though Apple Intelligence features require an iPhone 15 Pro or newer. If you are unsure whether to install it on your main device, the iOS 27 developer beta device risk checklist is worth a look before you update.
A public beta is expected in July, with the full release set for September alongside the new iPhone lineup. Given that iOS 27 is already tracking more stable than most betas at this stage, that timeline looks realistic. The more interesting question is how many remaining UP 3.0 features, including message editing and deletion for RCS chats, Apple still plans to ship before September.
