End-to-end encrypted RCS messaging rolling out for Android, iPhones: Google’s Android head shares why this is ‘Big news’

Google and Apple have officially begun rolling out end-to-end encryption for text messages sent between Android and iPhone devices. The update marks a major shift in how the two biggest smartphone rivals handle security. For years, encrypted messaging was largely restricted to – Android to Android or iPhone to iPhone but that barrier is finally coming down.According to Google’s Android head Samer Samat, this move is the result of a massive cross-industry effort to upgrade RCS (Rich Communication Services)—the modern tech that is replacing old-fashioned SMS texting.“Big news: Today, we’re starting to roll out end-to-end encryption for RCS messaging between Android and iPhone users! This cross-industry effort replaces outdated SMS with a more secure & private way to chat, no matter what phone you have,” he said in a post on X.“Thank you to the community for continuing to push for these kinds of features. Your engagement really helps make a difference. Congratulations to the team for reaching this amazing milestone!” he added.Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Rick Osterloh SVP, Platforms & Devices joinThe announcement is a big milestone for the company. CEO Sundar Pichai posted: “Today, we’re starting to roll out end-to-end encryption for RCS messaging between Android and iPhone users!” Rick Osterloh, who is the senior vice president of platforms and devices hailed the development as “Terrific milestone!”“Starting today, end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging begins rolling out for Android and iPhone users. 🔒 A huge thank you to the teams that have been working for years to bring you a more secure, private way to communicate – regardless of your device. Terrific milestone!” he said in a post on X. When a message is end-to-end encrypted, the content is scrambled into a code that only the sender and receiver can unlock. This means that even the wireless carriers or the tech companies themselves cannot read your private chats while they are in transit.Users will be able to identify these secure chats easily as they will see the familiar “lock” icon in their chat threads, signaling that the conversation is private. Moreover, users won't have to hunt through settings to turn this on. Encryption is enabled by default and will be automatically applied to both new and existing RCS conversations over time.The rollout is starting in beta (a testing phase) for iPhone users running iOS 26.5 with supported mobile carriers, and Android users who are using the latest version of the Google Messages app.