Apple Adds Encrypted RCS Chats on iPhone

Apple has started turning iPhone-to-Android texting into a more private conversation.

With iOS 26.5, released Monday, Apple added beta support for end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging in the Messages app. That change means iPhone users can now hold encrypted RCS conversations with Android users, a long-awaited step toward making cross-platform messaging feel less exposed and less fragmented. Reports indicate the update also changes how those chats appear inside Messages, signaling that Apple wants the feature to feel native rather than experimental.

Apple and Google can’t read the contents of these RCS messages while they travel between users, marking a meaningful privacy shift for cross-platform texting.

The move matters because RCS has sat in an awkward middle ground for years. It promised richer texting features than SMS, but privacy remained a glaring weakness, especially when conversations crossed the iPhone-Android divide. By bringing end-to-end encryption to RCS in beta, Apple addresses one of the biggest complaints about modern texting: people expect secure messaging by default, not only inside closed ecosystems.

This update also carries strategic weight. Apple has long faced pressure to improve the experience of messaging beyond its own platform, and Google has pushed RCS as the modern replacement for SMS. Apple did not abandon iMessage’s advantages here, but it did strengthen the default texting layer that millions of people use every day with friends, relatives, and coworkers on different devices. In practical terms, that could make mixed-device group chats and one-on-one conversations feel more trustworthy.

What comes next will matter as much as the rollout itself. Because Apple describes the feature as beta, users should expect refinements as the company expands and stabilizes support. Still, the direction is clear: the wall between iPhone and Android messaging has not disappeared, but it just became harder to justify insecure texting as the norm.