With in the present day’s launch of iOS 26.5, Apple has begun rolling out beta support for end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging. As with all issues RCS, there are some primary necessities each you and the recipient of your messages might want to fulfill earlier than you messages are secured in transit.
First, you may want an iPhone working iOS 26.5 related to a wi-fi community that helps E2E encrypted messaging over RCS. You could find the complete checklist of suitable networks on Apple’s website. Within the US, AT&T, T-Cell and Verizon are all out of the gate with day-one help for the protocol. As in your Android pals, they’re going to want the newest model of Google Messages, working on a tool related to a suitable community.
On an iPhone, when you see a brand new lock icon on the high of your RCS chats, the dialog you are in is safe. “Encryption is on by default and might be mechanically enabled over time for brand new and current RCS conversations,” Apple notes. For communication between totally different Apple gadgets, Apple will proceed to route messages by its personal iMessage protocol.
As is normally the case, Apple additionally dropped updates for iPadOS, macOS Tahoe and watchOS, all of which hit model 26.5 as properly. There aren’t a ton of noteworthy options this day trip; the primary factor of be aware in addition to encrypted RCS is a brand new “recommended locations” in Maps that highlights locations it’s possible you’ll be serious about primarily based on latest searches and what’s trending close to you. There may be additionally a new Pride-themed “Luminance” wallpaper that is fairly pretty, colourful and customizable.
Whereas I am positive there might be some remaining quirks for Apple and Google to work out, in the present day’s launch successfully brings our long RCS nightmare to an end. Inexperienced chat bubbles (and their related stigma) could stay, however at the least iOS and Android customers can lastly chat with each other securely with out turning to a third-party app like Sign or WhatsApp. It could have taken years, a pressure campaign of questionable value, and stress from Chinese regulators, however we obtained right here.
