Google and Apple begin rolling out end-to-end encrypted RCS texts between Android and iPhone
Android and iPhone texts get a long-awaited privacy upgrade
Google and Apple have finally enabled end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging for texts sent between Android and iPhone users, starting a beta rollout on Monday for devices running the latest software.
The change closes a long-standing gap in cross-platform texting. Until now, iPhone-to-Android messages could not be end-to-end encrypted, even though Apple’s iMessage has offered encryption since 2011 and Android users have been able to message each other with end-to-end encryption since 2021.
End-to-end encryption is a major privacy feature because it protects messages while they travel between devices, making them far harder for hackers, governments, or the companies running the platforms to intercept and read. With the new rollout, users in encrypted conversations will see a lock icon indicating that the chat is protected.
RCS finally narrows the green-bubble divide
The update arrives after years of awkward cross-platform texting. Apple resisted supporting RCS, the modern replacement for SMS, until 2023, when it finally adopted the standard under regulatory pressure. RCS adds features that have long been common in richer messaging apps, including typing indicators, read receipts, emoji reactions, longer messages, and encryption.
Google had spent years pushing Apple to support RCS, in part to ease the friction between Android and iPhone users. The divide became a cultural shorthand, with “green bubble stigma” turning the color of a text bubble into a marker of social tension.
For many users, the lack of support meant broken group chats, poor-quality media sharing, and a messaging experience that felt stuck in the SMS era. Apple’s support for encrypted RCS now brings the two platforms closer together, at least for users on the newest software.
The feature is only beginning to roll out in beta, so not everyone will have access immediately.
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