Messaging between blue and green bubbles is getting more secure. With the release of iOS 26.5, end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging will start rolling out in beta for iPhone owners and Android phone users with the latest version of Google Messages, according to a post from Apple on Monday.
End-to-end encryption protects a message's privacy and security when it's being sent from one device to another. Apple and Google have long offered encrypted messaging within iMessage and Google Messages, respectively. But this kind of encryption didn't work for RCS and SMS messages sent between iOS and Android until now.
The feature will gradually roll out to iPhone and Android users over the coming months.
For years, there's been a "blue versus green bubble" divide between iPhone and Android owners. This ranged from Android users being teased for their green bubbles breaking iMessage group threads to becoming a major social stigma, with people being bullied for not having an iPhone.
In 2024, Apple added support for Rich Communication Services, or RCS, to the iPhone with the release of iOS 18, bringing some parity between iMessage and Google Messages but lacking end-to-end encryption across the two platforms.
It's significant that Apple and Google are working together to bring end-to-end encryption to the GSMA's RCS Universal Profile.
Cross-platform RCS chats will be encrypted for iPhone users on iOS 26.5 and Android users on the latest version of Google Messages with supported carriers. There'll be a lock icon on the chat indicating that the conversation is encrypted -- something RCS Google Messages already has. The lock will also appear in iMessage-only threads (blue bubbles) to indicate they're encrypted.
As iMessage and Google Messages' end-to-end encryption reaches all users, it will automatically apply to new and existing RCS conversations.
Watch this: How to Enable RCS on iPhone
