"Apple announced this week that encrypted Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging is rolling out in beta for iPhone users running iOS 26.5 and Android users on the latest version of Google Messages. The feature works across supported carriers and adds end-to-end encryption to cross-platform chats that were still taking the scenic route through carrier-era messaging infrastructure."
"Users will know it's enabled when a lock icon appears in RCS conversations. Apple says E2EE RCS messages cannot be read while traveling between devices, bringing Android-to-iPhone chats closer to the protections offered by WhatsApp and Signal."
"While iMessage chats between Apple devices were already encrypted, conversations involving Android phones could fall back to SMS or unencrypted RCS, depending on carrier support. Google had offered encrypted RCS chats inside Google Messages for years, but only when both sides used Google's ecosystem. Apple joining the party means cross-platform RCS encryption is finally starting to span the two largest mobile ecosystems."
"The rollout is still marked as beta, and carrier support varies by region, so not everyone will get encrypted chats immedia"
Apple and Google are enabling end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging across iPhone and Android. The beta rollout is available for iPhone users on iOS 26.5 and Android users using the latest Google Messages. The feature works across supported carriers and adds end-to-end encryption to cross-platform chats that previously relied on carrier-era messaging infrastructure. A lock icon indicates when encrypted RCS is enabled. Apple states that encrypted RCS messages cannot be read while traveling between devices. This brings Android-to-iPhone messaging closer to protections offered by apps like WhatsApp and Signal. The rollout remains beta and depends on regional carrier support, so availability varies.
Read at theregister
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]