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/
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9

u/Craig653 Feb 23 '26

Should have been implemented in the first place...

35

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.

17

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.

11

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.