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Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
Technology
Tom Pritchard

Apple is finally fulfilling the RCS promise it made back in 2023 — but there's a catch

Apple Google iMessage Tom Guide
Apple RCS messaging support.

There was a point a few years back where the idea of Apple embracing RCS messaging seemed about as realistic as a fantasy novel. But here in 2026, not only does Apple actually support Rich Communication Services, it's actually fulfilling one of its earliest promises and attempting to add encryption to the protocol.

As spotted in the iOS 26.4 developer beta, Apple is testing encryption for RCS messages. Previously, encrypted messaging was exclusive to iMessages, which meant it was only available to iPhone users messaging other iPhone users. While RCS affords a much better messaging experience for Android-to-iPhone communication, those messages have been completely unsecured thus far.

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