How to Send High-Quality Images and Videos From Android to iPhone
With iOS 18 adding RCS support, sharing photos from Android to iPhone no longer means losing quality. This guide explains the settings to check and alternatives for large files.
Sharing photos and videos between Android and Apple devices has often come with an annoying catch: image quality dropped noticeably. The cause lay in the differing messaging systems, with Apple devices using SMS and Android devices using RCS. That changed when iOS 18 introduced RCS support for iPhone, letting iPhone users receive higher-resolution media sent from Android handsets.
For iPhone owners who want to confirm RCS is active, the option can be found in Settings > Apps > Messages under RCS Messaging. It is enabled by default in iOS 18, so the toggle should be green. On the Android side, Google Messages still compresses outgoing photos by default. To avoid this, users should tap the HD or HD+ button before sending and set the format to "HD+ Original Quality" rather than "HD Optimized for Chat". This keeps the file in its original form.
However, RCS has a 100MB attachment size limit, meaning larger videos and images can still be compressed. In those situations, email or alternative messaging apps are possible workarounds. Google Photos offers a straightforward option: when sharing an image, an Android user can choose "Send in Google Photos" to transfer it to someone using the app on an iPhone. Similarly, Google Drive can be used to exchange large files across devices of different brands.
Android Quick Share has also gained AirDrop support. It is available on Pixel phones starting with the 8a generation and on numerous Samsung devices, including much of the Galaxy S family. If a particular Android phone is not compatible with AirDrop, users can select "Use QR Code" from the Quick Share menu and let an iPhone user scan the code. This approach has limited range but can act as a reliable fallback.
