Apple has released the second beta of iOS 26.4, expanding end-to-end encryption for RCS messages to include Android users.

Apple added RCS to the iPhone, but crucially, the current implementation lacks end-to-end encryption. That's changing in the latest beta.

Taylor worked with AP from 2018 to 2025, most recently as Google Editor. Apple is finally adding RCS messaging support to iOS in 2024, allowing for modern text communication features between Android ...

RCS is a developed communication protocol that modernizes text messaging using a user’s mobile data plan to send text messages via SMS or MMS. Google began promoting widespread use of RCS in 2019, ...

The latest RCS Universal Profile 3.0 introduces end-to-end encryption as a standard to RCS chats to work across the board, including iPhones. Apple plans to roll out the new RCS profile to enable ...

RCS messaging isn’t the silver bullet for cross-platform communications that it ought to be, but it’s a start – especially for iPhone-heavy regions where messaging can be an ordeal. What can you do ...

In the latest iOS 26.4 developer beta, Apple has quietly enabled early support for end-to-end encrypted RCS chats. On paper, that sounds like a big deal. RCS has long been one of the most debated ...