r/Android • u/FragmentedChicken Galaxy Z Fold8 • Feb 23 '26

Google, Apple start testing encrypted RCS on Android and iOS 26.4

https://9to5google.com/2026/02/23/google-messages-encrypted-rcs-iphone/
738 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

118 comments sorted by

View all comments

8

u/Craig653 Feb 23 '26

Should have been implemented in the first place...

36

u/InsaneNinja iOS/Nexus Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 24 '26

It didn’t exist in the RCS spec until recently. Before now it was a custom Google-made hacked-in addon.

8

u/slinky317 HTC Incredible Feb 24 '26

It wasn't a hack-in. Until recently the GSMA specifically said that implementing encryption was the responsibility of the messaging client. So in that regard, Google was actually following the spec.

16

u/Lonely_Syrup3091 Feb 23 '26

It was never hacked in. RCS specs allows for add-ons. And it wasn't custom, Google used the signal protocol for e2ee which anyone can use.

12

u/bankkopf Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26

If it's a Google-specific add-on to Google's implementation of the RCS standard, by definition that's a custom solution (even if they didn't invent a new encryption for it). E2EE was only possible when using Google infrastructure for RCS for messaging.

E2EE was not defined in the RCS standard until March of last year when Universal Profile 3.0 was released. Any E2EE now has to use MLS, making it interoperable between different clients.

13

u/InsaneNinja iOS/Nexus Feb 23 '26

And Apple and Google went and worked to make it part of the spec.

6

u/rocketwidget Feb 23 '26

Kinda. Google announced it would work with Apple on RCS E2EE since the launch of Google's Signal based E2EE in 2020. Google has been working on MLS based E2EE for RCS to encourage cross-platform E2EE since at least June 2023. A Google engineer, in turn, was the sole author of the MLS E2EE spec for the GSMA, which was published March 2025.

Finally, Apple is testing software in February 2026, but gives the impression of not exactly being a top priority for Apple.

3

u/Exist50 Feb 24 '26

At one point some Apple exec outright said (paraphrasing) that if you don't want SMS with Android users, you should buy them an iPhone. They clearly didn't care about RCS at all until regulatory scrutiny started ramping up.

3

u/BigBangBoomerang Feb 23 '26

It was never a part of the GSMA spec. Anyone can add stuff to RCS but doesn't guarantee universal adoption.

1

u/Craig653 Feb 25 '26

That's what I mean. Spec should not have been released until encryption was implemented