One of the biggest reasons why people prefer group chats in either iMessage from Apple or RCS text messaging via Google Messages It is the increased level of control that both services provide to participants. Whether you’re an iPhone owner and everyone in your group is texting from an Apple device, or you’re an Android team member chatting with other Android users via RCS, your conversations have high-quality typing and media sharing cues, and when you need your phone to buzz less , and the ability to mute the conversation or leave it completely. Most importantly, iMessage and RCS group chats offer end-to-end encryption unless you’re chatting in a thread with a mix of iPhone and Android owners.
Unfortunately, group texts with a mix of participants on iPhone and Android only include basic features. That’s because these group texts are sent via multimedia messaging (MMS), a decades-old texting standard that’s compatible with all phones and carriers, but wasn’t designed to include the messaging features we’ve long become accustomed to.
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In 2024, we could start using MMS much less. Apple has pledged to support the RCS standard next year, which could mean group texting between iPhone and Android phones will improve with features like mute, leave the conversation, and end-to-end encryption. But until then, here are the steps to leave any conversation from your phone’s native texting app, regardless of whether it happens on iMessage, RCS, or as a hybrid MMS chat.
Leave group chats on iPhone
You can leave group chats on your iPhone in two ways. You can either mute the chat, which will keep you in the conversation but no longer receive notifications about it, or you can leave completely and no longer have access to the chat.
The option to leave the conversation appears in iMessage conversations with four or more participants.
On your iPhone, open Messages and go to the chat thread you want to leave. At the top of the screen are the conversation controls, which are a group of icons with participants. Tap this to open the pop-up menu. As long as your conversation has four or more participants, iOS gives you the ability to tap Leave this conversation With red text. If the chat has three or fewer participants, the option will be grayed out, but you can click it Hide alerts To prevent the conversation from notifying you further. Eavesdropping Hide alerts It also allows you to mute the conversation, giving you access to the chat without having to leave it.
Hide and block MMS conversations on iPhone
Although you can’t officially leave group MMS chats, you can hide or block the conversation. It’s not as good as leaving the conversation entirely (other participants will still see you as if you were in it), but at least you don’t have any personal proof that the conversation is continuing.
On your iPhone, visit the group chat and tap Chat Controls. Instead of seeing Leave this conversationAn option will appear Delete and block this conversation. If you prefer to mute the conversation instead of deleting and blocking it, you can tap Hide alerts To mute the sound.
Instead of leaving the conversation, iOS offers the ability to delete and block a group chat via MMS.
Leave group chats on your Android phone
On an Android phone using Google Messages, visit the conversation thread you want to leave. Click on the name of the conversation to show Group details menu. At the bottom of the screen, tap Leave the group button. Unlike iMessage, you can leave chats with as few as three participants.
The Leave Group button appears for RCS conversations with three or more participants.
If you want to mute only notifications, tap Notifications On the Group details Screen to show a window with notification controls. This includes options to keep the conversation going Silent To prevent it from ringing your chat, if you click Lock the screen, The pop-up menu will give you the option to block notifications. handle Notifications do not appear at all To enable.
Hide and block MMS conversations on Android phone
On an Android phone with Google Messages, follow the same steps to access notification control options. This involves visiting an MMS thread, then clicking either the name of the conversation or the names of the participants at the top to show Group details menu. You will not see a Leave the group option as you did with the RCS theme. But you get the same ability to click Notifications To access the controls to hide the conversation from view. This includes the same options to turn the conversation on Silent And the choice Notifications do not appear at all.
SMS vs. MMS vs. RCS
SMS stands for Short Message Service and it first appeared in 1992. Text messages are limited to 160 characters. MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service and supports sending photos, videos, files and other messages longer than 160 characters. MMS supports a group of people chatting in a single conversation thread, while SMS can send text messages to multiple people at once but are sent as individual messages to each person. RCS, which was launched 15 years ago, stands for Rich Communication Services and can display write indicators, read receipts, and end-to-end encryption.
While cross-platform chat apps like WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram have better chat controls, encryption, and privacy, regardless of what type of phone participants are using, they do not support SMS, MMS, or RCS. That’s why the default messaging app on most phones is still widely used even if it means group chatting is done to a less feature-packed and insecure standard than MMS.
There is hope that there will be much fewer MMS conversations by 2024 onwards. While we don’t yet know the extent of Apple’s support for the RCS texting standard when it comes to the iPhone (aside from knowing it), RCS texts will remain green Like SMS and MMS now, the mere fact that it has the ability to securely support more modern texting between iPhone and Android hopefully means that leaving a conversation will also improve over time.
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Group chats can be a great way to connect and communicate with friends, family, and colleagues, but sometimes you may find yourself wanting to leave a group chat for various reasons. Whether you’re looking to declutter your messaging app or simply no longer wish to be a part of the conversation, leaving a group chat on your iPhone or Android phone is a quick and easy process. In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps to leave any group chat on your mobile device, so you can regain control over your notifications and messaging experience.