How Does iOS 18’s Messages via Satellite Feature Work?
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During Monday’s 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) Keynote, Apple unveiled iOS 18, giving us a preview of several exciting new and improved features for Apple’s iPhone operating system.
One of those new features expands the iPhone’s satellite connectivity, allowing users to send and receive iMessage and SMS texts when they’re out of range of cellular and WiFi networks.
The new feature, Messages via satellite, is compatible with key iMessage features such as emojis and Tapbacks. Conversations are also protected by end-to-end encryption in the same manner as any other iMessage chat. Dynamic Island lets users know when they are connected to a satellite.
Messages via satellite requires an iPhone 14 and later, since those were the first to offer support for Emergency SOS via satellite. Apple has not said if it will eventually charge for Messages via satellite, but it will likely be free to start with, as it’s being bundled with Apple’s other free satellite services like Emergency SOS and Roadside Assistance.
When the iPhone 14 debuted in 2022, Apple offered Emergency SOS via satellite free for two years with the purchase of an iPhone 14. The company extended the same offer to iPhone 15 buyers last year while also adding another free year for iPhone 14 owners. While that should last until at least late 2025, Apple is leaving the door open to eventually charge for at least some of these satellite services, although it’s announced no plans to do so yet.
Thanks to Kurt Knight, Apple’s senior director of platform product marketing, CNET received an early look at how Messages via satellite works:
Meanwhile, iJustine also offered a walkthrough of the feature:
When your iPhone 14 or later detects it’s out of range of cellular and Wi-Fi networks, you’ll see a pop-up alert offering access to all of Apple’s satellite-enabled services. These include Emergency SOS, Find My, Roadside Assistance, and the now-added Messages.
When you’re “off-grid,” you can directly access Messages via Satellite from the iOS 18 Messages app. iOS 18 will display a card that will assist in pointing your iPhone toward an available satellite. Once you’ve done that you can carry on a Messages conversation just like you normally do. You’ll be able to send and receive text messages, which can include Tapbacks and emojis, and all the conversations are still end-to-end encrypted, just like the conversations you conduct via a cellular or Wi-Fi connection.
However, as Engadget’s Cherlynn Low pointed out from her hands-on experience, the limited bandwidth means features like pictures, videos, read receipts, and typing indicators aren’t supported.
While iMessages will be able to flow back and forth via satellite, Apple will place limitations on SMS messages, thanks to how companies and individuals “spam” using the SMS protocol. Your emergency contacts and specified family members will be able to contact you via SMS at any time. However, for other contacts, as well as those not on your contact list, you will need to message them first. The recipients will then be able to respond to you for a specific period of time.
While Apple will be adding Rich Communication Services (RCS) support to iMessage in iOS 18 later this year, Messages via satellite will not immediately work with RCS. This is because, in Apple’s eyes, the RCS text protocol has not yet been optimized to work via a satellite connection.
Apple’s Messages via satellite will initially only be available to iOS 18 users in the United States, then expand later to other countries. Apple’s satellite services are available on iPhone 14 and later models. As I previously mentioned, while Apple has indicated that it will eventually begin charging for satellite services like Emergency SOS satellite and Messages via satellite, it will continue to offer them at no charge to existing iPhone users until at least 2025.
