GUIDE
Our daughter-in-law texts us videos of the grandkids from a different kind of phone, and they arrive blurry or with no sound. What can we fix?
By the seenow! teamLast updated:
When a video goes between an iPhone and an Android phone as an ordinary picture message (MMS), the carrier compresses it. Ask everyone in the conversation to turn on RCS, which both Apple and Google say can send high-resolution video, and for longer clips, ask for a link instead of an attachment.
WHY
Why this happens
Phones send texts in more than one way, and you usually can't see which one is being used. Between an iPhone and an Android phone, a video either goes as an older picture message, called MMS, or as a newer kind of text called RCS. Google's help pages say plainly that carriers compress MMS messages, which can hurt the quality. A clip that looked sharp on your daughter-in-law's phone can arrive soft and blocky on yours.
The color of the bubble will not tell you much. Apple says both RCS and SMS/MMS messages show up in green bubbles on an iPhone, so a conversation can look the same either way. Group texts add another wrinkle: Google says everyone in the conversation must turn RCS on for its features to work, so one phone without it can hold the whole group back.
| MMS (picture message) | RCS | |
|---|---|---|
| Picture quality | Compressed by the carrier, according to Google | High-resolution photos and video, according to Apple and Google |
| What you need | A text plan that supports picture messages | iPhone: iOS 18 and a carrier that supports RCS on iPhone. Android: RCS chats turned on |
| Bubble color on iPhone | Green | Green |
Source: Apple Support: The difference between RCS and SMS/MMS messages on iPhone / Apple Support: Turn on RCS messaging on your iPhone / Google Help: Send photos, videos, voice messages and locations in Android texting / Google Help: Turn on RCS chats on Android
Missing sound is harder to pin down. Neither Apple nor Google gives one cause for it, and it can depend on the phones and the carriers involved. The steps below start with what fixes the most cases and end with a way around the texting problem altogether.
HOW TO
What you can do starting today
Turn on RCS on the iPhone sideNo app needed
On an iPhone, open Settings, tap Apps, tap the built-in texting app, then tap RCS Messaging and turn it on. Apple says you need iOS 18 or later and a carrier that supports RCS on iPhone. If you do not see the setting, Apple says RCS may not be available on your carrier or device yet. Apple also notes it can take a few hours to switch on.
Source: Apple Support: The difference between RCS and SMS/MMS messages on iPhone / Apple Support: Turn on RCS messaging on your iPhone
Ask the sender to turn on RCS chats and full resolutionNo app needed
On the Android phone, RCS is usually under the texting app's settings as RCS chats. Google says everyone in the conversation needs it on, so if the family group includes an aunt or uncle on an older phone, check theirs too. Google also describes a quality choice when sending photos and videos: HD sends faster with less data, while HD+ sends at full resolution. Ask your daughter-in-law to choose HD+ for videos of the kids.
Source: Google Help: Send photos, videos, voice messages and locations in Android texting / Google Help: Turn on RCS chats on Android
Send a test clip both waysNo app needed
Once both phones are set, have her send a five-second video of anything with sound, and send one back. Watch it with the volume up and the phone's ring switch or silent mode off. If the test is clear and has sound, you are done. If not, try the same test in a one-on-one text instead of the group, to see whether one group member is the problem.
For longer videos, ask for a linkNo app needed
Long videos are the ones most likely to come through badly as a text attachment. A link to the video from a shared album or the phone's cloud storage opens the full-quality file on your phone, with sound. It is one more tap for you, and it works no matter which kind of phone sent it.
WITH SEENOW!
Doing it with seenow!
seenow! is a family app where everyone takes a short video, about 2 seconds a day, in a private group. It does not fix texting, but it sidesteps the iPhone-versus-Android problem for everyday clips.
- iPhones and Android phones can share the same videos in one seenow! group, so the clips look the same whichever phone took them.
- There are only two things to do in the app, take and watch, so grandparents can open the clips without going through settings.
What seenow! can’t do
- Videos your daughter-in-law has already recorded cannot be forwarded into seenow!. Only photos and videos taken with the seenow! camera can be posted, and the clips are short, so longer videos still need a text or a link.
- seenow! cannot change how your phones send texts. The RCS settings above still matter for everything else.
Core features are free.
POINT
Things to watch for in this situation
Don't switch the setting on and off repeatedly
If RCS does not seem to work right after you turn it on, give it time instead of toggling it again and again. Apple notes that activating RCS can take a few hours.
Keep the original with the parents
Whatever arrives on your phone, the clear original is on the parent's phone. If a special video, like a first bike ride, comes through badly, ask them to send the link later rather than living with the blurry copy.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Why do photos look fine but videos look bad?
Videos are much larger files than photos, so they have more to lose when a carrier compresses a picture message. Turning on RCS on both phones is the first thing to try.
Do we need new phones?
Not necessarily. On an iPhone, Apple lists iOS 18 and a supporting carrier as the requirements for RCS. Check for a software update and the RCS Messaging setting before thinking about a new phone.
Will this fix a group text with the whole family?
Only if everyone in the group has RCS on. Google says every person in the conversation must turn it on for the features to work.