iPhones and Android Phones Begin Beta Rollout of Encrypted Cross-Platform Texting

A phased beta release Monday enables end-to-end encryption for RCS conversations between Apple and Android devices, provided both sides run the latest software.

Apple and Google users on updated phones can now exchange text chats that are scrambled in transit so only the participants can read them, according to platform notices. The change applies to RCS messages—an upgraded texting standard—and will show a small padlock next to conversations that are secured. The feature is arriving in stages, so many people won’t see it right away.

The move fixes a long-standing gap: Apple’s messaging service has used client-side encryption since 2011, and Android phones gained encrypted RCS chats among themselves in 2021. But cross-platform messages have lacked that protection until now because Apple resisted full RCS support for years. The company began enabling RCS on iPhones in 2023 after pressure from regulators and industry actors demanding more interoperable messaging.

For consumers, RCS brings modern chat functions that SMS never had—things like typing indicators, delivery and read notifications, richer image and video transfer, message reactions and far longer texts. When both ends support the new encrypted RCS, those extras arrive with the same privacy protections that users of secure messaging apps have long expected.

Security experts say the change matters. “Encrypting messages between different manufacturers closes a major avenue for interception,” said Dr. Maya Thompson, a privacy researcher at the Center for Digital Safety. She warned, though, that protection only applies when both parties use compatible, up-to-date clients; otherwise, conversations will fall back to unencrypted SMS or limited RCS functionality.

The rollout also addresses consumer annoyances that made group chats break and multimedia degrade when iPhone and Android users exchanged messages. Still, the upgrade won’t be instantaneous worldwide: carriers, phone makers and app versions must line up before every user benefits. For now, look for the padlock indicator to know when a given cross-platform conversation is private.