According to The Verge, which discovered this quiet update, when an Android user sends a reaction to an iPhone via RCS message, the emoji displays inline instead of as a separate message. The same goes for when an iPhone user reacts to a message sent from an Android.

Emoji reactions now display correctly between Android and iPhone users. Emoji reactions sent from Android users no longer show up as a separate text. Apple improved cross-platform texting with RCS support in iOS 18. Apple took a big step in improving the ...

You can say goodbye to the dreaded “🥲 to ‘why the hell aren’t emoji reacts working?’” from iOS to Android with RCS.

Prior to now, if an Android user used an emoji reaction to a message in a conversation with an iPhone user, the emoji would show up on a separate line, which was confusing and not how the feature was meant to work. The Verge says it tested emoji reactions ...

Android reactions now show up properly on iPhones, fixing a major messaging headache. Previously, Android reactions would appear as separate messages, cluttering up chats—especially in group texts. The update is part of RCS v2.

At long last, when you send an emoji reaction from an Android device to an iPhone, it shows up like it's supposed to.