RCS messages on Android and iOS will receive end-to-end encryption

After iOS 18 introduced RCS support, GSMA CTO Tom Van Pelt announced that the next step would be end-to-end encryption of messages between iOS and Android. Six months later, the standard-setting association officially announced the feature, and it will be available to users soon.

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) will be powered by the Message Layer Security (MLS) protocol. This makes RCS the first large-scale messaging service to support E2EE between client implementations from different vendors.

However, the RCS Universal Profile 3.0 release introduced an expanded deep link format and a few other smaller improvements, namely an improved codec for exchanging audio messages and simplified subscription management with business message senders.

The adoption of end-to-end encryption does not remove the previously available RCS messaging features between iOS and Android users. Users will be able to send group messages, share high-quality media, and see read receipts and typing indicators.

Apple told 9to5Mac that it will add end-to-end encryption to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS in future system updates, but did not provide an exact timeframe.