Apple adds encrypted RCS messaging for iPhone and Android chats

Apple has closed one of the biggest security gaps in cross-platform texting, bringing end-to-end encrypted RCS conversations to iPhone and Android users inside the Messages app. The update means message content can stay private while it is sent, instead of moving across networks in a way Apple and Google can read.

The new feature arrived in iOS 26.5 as a beta and sits under a new End-to-End Encryption (Beta) control in Settings, then Apps, then Messages, then RCS Messaging. Apple said the rollout will happen over time and depends on supported carriers, so availability will vary by device and network. The company also said the feature is still labeled beta, which signals that the encryption layer is not yet universal across the RCS ecosystem.

The change matters because Apple only brought RCS support to iPhone in iOS 18.1, adding modern chat features such as read receipts and typing indicators to texts between iPhone and Android users. Until now, that upgrade stopped short of end-to-end encryption. With iOS 26.5, Apple is filling that gap, although users still need iOS 18 and a carrier that supports RCS on iPhone for the system to work at all.

The technical foundation was set when the GSMA published RCS Universal Profile 3.0 in March 2025, adding requirements for end-to-end encryption based on Messaging Layer Security, or MLS. Google said it worked with Apple on the cross-industry effort through the GSMA, building on a system where Google Messages has already supported end-to-end encrypted chats between Android devices for years. Apple first tested encrypted RCS in the iOS 26.4 beta before it reached the public iOS 26.5 release.

For ordinary users, the practical effect is straightforward: iPhone-to-Android RCS chats now get much closer to the default privacy expectations people already associate with modern messaging apps. The feature does not yet cover every carrier or every device, and it is still not the same as a guaranteed, universal setting across all texting formats. SMS and MMS remain separate systems, while encrypted RCS is now part of a broader shift toward making privacy the norm rather than an add-on.