End-to-end encryption coming to iOS-Android RCS chats as soon as next month
Cross-platform messaging between iOS and Android handsets could soon get a higher level of protection.
Last month, we reminded you that when you indulge in cross-platform messaging using Rich Communication Services (RCS), the messages are not protected by end-to-end encryption. That's because when Apple started supporting RCS with the release of iOS 18 last September, it featured GSMA RCS Universal Profile 2.4. This allowed iOS and Android users with RCS enabled to share high-quality images and video, receive read receipts, see typing indicators, and view actual emoji reactions.
End-to-end encryption allows only the sender and the recipient of an RCS message to see it. However, RCS Universal Profile 2.4 features in-transit encryption. The latter secures messages as they travel from the sender to a server, where they are decrypted before being re-crypted and arrive on the recipient's phone. There are moments during the message's journey when it is vulnerable to being intercepted and read. With end-to-end encryption, the message is encrypted throughout its journey from the sender to the recipient.
End-to-end encryption is offered with RCS Universal Profile 3.0, and Apple has said that it will add the feature to its RCS support "in future software updates." A new report cites code discovered in the iOS 26 Beta releases to show that Apple has been testing the same Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol encryption that Google added to Google Messages. The latter is the app that most Android users employ to send and receive RCS messages.
Currently, Google Messages does support end-to-end encryption on Android-to-Android messaging through the app. Apple iPhone users sending an iMessage to another iPhone user also can relax with the knowledge that these messages are also secured with end-to-end encryption.
"End-to-end encryption is a powerful privacy and security technology that iMessage has supported since the beginning, and now we are pleased to have helped lead a cross industry effort to bring end-to-end encryption to the RCS Universal Profile published by the GSMA. We will add support for end-to-end encrypted RCS messages to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS in future software updates."
-Apple
Apple's testing shows that it has been working on end-to-end encryption (E2EE) in iOS 26, which means that, while it is possible that the feature will arrive next month with the release of stable iOS 26, there is no guarantee that it will be included with this release. However, Apple could leave some of the functionality of RCS Universal Profile 3.0 off the upcoming software updates. For example, we don't expect to see group icons or mentions included. Still, adding end-to-end encryption to RCS would probably make many iOS and Android users happy.
If you use an Android handset for your messaging and want the protection of E2EE when chatting with a fellow Google Messages user, or you want end-to-end encryption once Apple adds such support to iOS, you should have the Google Messages app installed on your Android device. If you don't and are using a different Android messaging app, you might want to tap on this link to install Google Messages.
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