Encrypted RCS messages have appeared in iOS 26.3 Beta
Apple appears to be on the verge of supporting end-to-end (E2EE) encryption for RCS messages, almost a year after the GSM Association announced it was working on implementing this privacy feature for messages between Android phones and iPhones.
X user Tiino-X83 announced today, the latest beta version of iOS 26.3 contains references to a new setting for the Carrier Bundle that will allow carriers to enable and disable end-to-end (E2EE) encryption for RCS messages.
This setting may refer to the encryption status of messages according to the GSMA standard requirements to make it visible to the user. This requirement is necessary because local regulations may prohibit end-to-end encryption for all users, and users must be informed about the encryption status.
RCS End-to-End already announced in March 2025
End-to-end encryption for RCS was announced in March 2025 as part of version 3.0 of the RCS Universal Profile. Apple stated that it would add support for the Messages app in future software updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS and watchOS, but has not commented on it since.
The carrier bundle references in the latest iOS 26.3 beta could indicate that Apple is laying the groundwork for future support, and are not a guarantee that E2EE support for RCS messages will be included in the software release. However, they do at least indicate that Apple is working on providing support at some point in the future.
Full support was introduced with iOS 18 on the iPhone, which supports Universal Profile 2.4. This is essentially a modernized version of the SMS standard, which remains available as a fallback option for text messaging over a cellular network.
