Apple still needs to add RCS Univeral Profile 30. Here's why it's important.
Apple's RCS support still does not include end-to-end encryption.
When Apple added RCS support to iOS with the release of iOS 18 last September, it included RCS Universal Profile 2.4. This allows cross-platform messaging between iOS and Android users who have RCS enabled. It allows iOS users chatting with Android users to receive and share high-quality video and images. If you've ever tried using MMS to receive a photo on your iPhone from an Android user, or vice versa, you know what a disaster it is.
RCS also allows iOS and Android users to exchange longer messages, receive typing indicators, read receipts, and actual emoji reactions instead of getting a separate text that says, "Joe likes your text." But there is one important RCS feature that won't be available until Apple starts supporting RCS Universal Profile 3.0, and that is end-to-end encryption.
With end-to-end encryption, messages sent between users are encrypted, and the only people who can read them are the sender and the intended recipient. Not even Apple or Google is able to read the message. Currently, RCS supports in-transit encryption, which partially protects a message sent from an iOS user to an Android user and vice versa. The message cannot be read from the time it leaves the sender and travels over the internet. But once it arrives at the destination (such as a server or a wireless provider's system), the message can be intercepted and read.
Besides end-to-end encryption, when Apple does add support for RCS Universal Profile 3.0, it will allow users to receive new features on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, such as:
- In-line replies which allow users to reply to a specific message within a conversation.
- Edit messages allowing users to make changes to messages they have already sent.
- Unsend messages allowing users to delete a message already sent and received so as to make it appear that it wasn't sent at all.
- Full-fledged Tapback support for RCS messages allowing actual emojis to be sent as a reaction to a message without requiring a special workaround.
Apple hasn't announced any timeline for its move to support RCS Universal Profile 3.0. It still needs to wait for carriers to support it as well. We should see Apple include the updated RCS Universal Profile with a future iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and watchOS 26 update. So far, it has not surfaced on any of the first three iOS 26 Developer Beta releases.
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