Apple is adding end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging between iPhones and Android phones with iOS 26.5—a big upgrade for cross-platform texting security. The format is expected to provide a better messaging experience between iOS and Android, thanks to its improved usability and security.
The implementation relies on the GSMA’s RCS Universal Profile and the Messaging Layer Security protocol, a standard for secure group messaging.
As of now, RCS encryption is in beta in iOS 26.5, so everyday users will experience it once the new iOS iteration rolls out to the general public, which is expected to occur next week. For RCS to work, both the iPhone and the Android phone must use RCS with compatible apps and carriers; if either side falls back to SMS or MMS, chats will not be encrypted end-to-end.
If you’re wondering how to tell whether a conversation uses RCS, you’re not alone. When encryption is enabled, iOS displays RCS chats with a lock indicator and an “Encrypted” label. RCS chats between iPhone and Android phones will still appear as green bubbles on iOS, but thankfully, now they will use a modern standard with encryption rather than SMS.
Android messaging apps like Google Messages, which will soon be completely replacing the Samsung messaging app on Samsung devices, already support encrypted RCS for Android‑to‑Android chats.
