No. iMessage is Apple's service and it only runs on Apple devices. An Android phone can't receive an iMessage, and Apple has never released iMessage for Android. If your customer list includes both iPhone and Android owners (in the US it almost certainly does), a messaging plan built only on iMessage leaves part of the list out.
The fix is fallback. Every message aimed at an iPhone needs a path to Android phones, and that path is SMS or RCS. This post covers what happens on each device, where RCS fits, and how to set up business texting so every customer gets the message whatever phone they carry.
What happens when an iPhone texts an Android phone
On a personal iPhone, Messages decides how to send each text:
- Recipient has an Apple device with iMessage on: the text goes as iMessage and shows a blue bubble.
- Recipient is on Android, and both phones support RCS: since iOS 18, the iPhone can send RCS, which supports typing indicators, higher-quality photos and longer messages. The bubble is still green.
- Neither of the above: the text goes as plain SMS (or MMS for photos). Green bubble, basic features.
The person sending doesn't pick any of this. The phone does it automatically. That's the behavior business owners want from their own tools, and it doesn't come for free on the business side.
Why business texting is different
Your personal iPhone handles fallback because Apple built it into Messages. A business sending from software has no iPhone in the middle. Whatever platform you send through has to decide, for each contact, which channel to use and what to do when the first choice doesn't apply.
There are three channels to choose from:
| Channel | Reaches iPhone | Reaches Android | Shows business name/photo | Needs 10DLC registration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMS/MMS from a 10DLC number | Yes (green) | Yes (green) | No, shows the number | Yes |
| iMessage (a "blue line") | Yes (blue) | No | Yes, on iPhone | No |
| RCS Business Messaging | Partly; depends on carrier and iOS support for business agents | Yes, on supported phones | Yes, for verified agents | Separate agent verification |
SMS is the only row with a "yes" in both device columns. That's why every serious mixed-device setup keeps SMS underneath whatever else it does.
Where RCS actually stands
RCS (Rich Communication Services) is the upgrade to SMS that Google pushed on Android and Apple adopted in iOS 18 for person-to-person texting. For a full primer, see what RCS messaging is.
For businesses, RCS Business Messaging is a separate product. A business registers a verified "agent," and messages can show a logo, a verified badge, buttons and carousels. The catch is reach. Delivery depends on the recipient's carrier, phone and app, and support for business agents on iPhone is still uneven. Every RCS business setup we know of keeps SMS as the fallback for recipients RCS can't reach. We cover that in more detail in RCS business messaging: benefits, limits and how to back up with SMS.
To be plain about our own product: Ready sends SMS, MMS and iMessage. We don't send RCS Business Messaging today. If branded RCS cards on Android are central to your plan, you need a provider that offers RCS agents, and that's a reasonable choice. For most businesses, RCS is a nice extra on top of SMS, not a replacement for it.
How the blue line handles Android customers
A Ready blue line sends texts as iMessage, so they show up blue on iPhones with your business name and photo. It doesn't need 10DLC registration, so you can start texting as soon as the line is set up. For the full breakdown, see blue bubble texting for business.
Android fallback is built in. Texts to Android phones go out from the account's regular number. If the account already had a number they bill at the regular text price; if the blue line came with its green number, they bill at 6 cents a segment once the account registers. If the account doesn't have a regular number yet, the blue line comes with one. Replies from both sides land in the same inbox thread, along with reactions, typing indicators and group chats. Your team doesn't manage two inboxes, and a customer who switches phones keeps one conversation history. If you're building this into your own app, SMS API with iMessage: one thread for blue and green texts walks through the developer side, and the docs are at docs.tryready.com/guides/imessage and docs.tryready.com/api/imessage.
There's one caveat on the green side. Those Android texts are regular SMS, so the regular number still needs to be on a registered 10DLC campaign for anything beyond light volume. An account can send up to 500 texts a month before it registers. After that, registration is required: $25 at submit for the first month, then $25/mo for registration + $2 per number. Most approvals take 2 to 7 days.
The limits worth knowing
A blue line isn't unlimited in every direction:
- Unlimited texting with people you already talk to.
- Up to 50 new conversations a day per line.
- Up to 2 texts to someone until they reply. Photos are only sent after they reply.
- Campaigns and drip campaigns send from regular numbers, not the blue line.
The last point matters for planning. A blue line is for conversations: support, sales follow-up, appointment back-and-forth. Promotions to a large list go over SMS, which reaches every phone anyway.
Worked example: a mixed list of 1,000 customers
Here's what a month of conversational texting looks like with the device split stated up front.
Assumptions (illustrative, not a Ready statistic): 1,000 existing customers you already text with, 55% on iPhone and 45% on Android. Each customer gets 2 single-segment texts in the month and sends 1 single-segment reply.
iPhone side (550 contacts, blue line):
- Sent: 550 × 2 = 1,100 segments × $0.06 = $66.00
- Replies: 550 × 1 = 550 segments × $0.06 = $33.00
- Line fee: $99.00
- Subtotal: $198.00
Android side (450 contacts, regular number on Standard):
- Sent: 450 × 2 = 900 segments
- Replies: 450 × 1 = 450 segments (replies are billed like a sent text)
- 1,350 segments × $0.0075 = $10.13, plus 1,350 × $0.0045 in carrier fees
- Plus the 10DLC monthly: $25/mo for registration and $2/mo per number
These totals don't include TCPA/DNC scrubbing or landline validation. Both are off by default and add $0.003 per segment each when switched on.
Two things stand out. First, the blue line costs more per text than SMS, so you're paying for the blue bubble, the business name and the photo on iPhones. Whether that's worth it depends on how much your replies matter. Second, because these 550 iPhone contacts are existing conversations, the 50-a-day limit on new conversations doesn't apply. If they were all new, one line would need over a week to open them all, or you'd add lines. "Add lines automatically" can add one when the day's new conversations are used up.
Segment counts drive both sides. An emoji drops a segment from 160 characters to 70, so a 140-character text with one emoji is 3 segments instead of 1. That triples the cost of that text on either channel.
Checklist for a mixed-device audience
- Keep SMS as the floor. It's the only channel that reaches every phone. Register it once and you have coverage.
- Add iMessage where conversations matter. Support and sales threads benefit most from the blue bubble and business name.
- Treat RCS as optional. If you add it, keep SMS fallback behind it.
- Use one inbox. Split inboxes by channel lead to missed replies. Blue and green should share a thread per contact.
- Text people who opted in. Fallback doesn't change consent rules. SMS and iMessage both go to consented or replied contacts. STOP replies are honored automatically, and quiet hours hold texts outside permitted local times. Compliance is still the sender's responsibility. Campaigns, drip campaigns and automations wait up to 24 hours for the window; a one-to-one or API text is held only if the window opens within 6 hours, otherwise it is refused and must be resent; a one-to-one reply to someone who texted you in the last 24 hours goes out at any hour.
The short version
iMessage doesn't work on Android, and that's fine as long as your setup knows it. iPhones can get the blue experience, Android phones get SMS from your regular number, and everything lands in one thread. RCS is improving but still needs SMS behind it.
If you want to see this in practice, you can sign up and use the first 20 one-to-one texts to try both sides. Use them before you register, since they end once a registration is paid for. To send, you add a card and get a number, which is $2 a month with the first month charged when you get it. The Standard rate and carrier fee are on the pricing page.