Safer chats between iPhones and Androids coming soon
For a while now, Google has been working hard to make RCS the go-to way for texting. To make this work, Apple had to join in and add RCS to iPhones. They did this a few months back with iOS 18. But until now, chats between Androids and iPhones using RCS weren’t fully safe. Good news—things are changing! Soon, RCS messages between iPhones and Androids will be super secure with something called end-to-end encryption.
RCS Chats to Be Locked Tight Across Android and iPhones
The group in charge of RCS, called the GSM Association, just shared a new plan (Universal Profile 3.0) that makes this encryption work between different phones. This means messages sent between Androids and iPhones will stay private and safe. End-to-end encryption is like a secret code that keeps your chats hidden from outsiders, like app makers or phone companies. Before this, Android phones, like Samsung Galaxy ones, already had this protection, but only through Google’s own setup.
Now, a new system called Messaging Layer Security (MLS) makes this protection work across both platforms. They started building this in September 2024. The GSM Association teamed up with phone companies, gadget makers, and tech experts to make it happen. Apple even chipped in to make RCS as secure as its iMessage.
When Will This Safety Kick In?
Apple shared, “We’ll bring this locked-up RCS messaging to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS in updates coming later.” Google’s Ed Fernandez told The Verge, “We’re thrilled about this new plan from GSMA and can’t wait to team up with the phone world to roll out this big safety boost for RCS chats across platforms.”
Apple’s been a bit slow to get RCS going on iPhones’ main texting app. Right now, only a handful of phone carriers worldwide support it. Apple needs to speed things up and bring RCS to more carriers soon so everyone can enjoy safer texting.
