After iOS 18 introduced RCS support, GSMA CTO Tom Van Pelt announced that the next step would be end-to-end encryption of messages between iOS and Android. Six months later, the association that develops the standard officially introduced the feature, and it will soon be available to users.
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) will be powered by the Message Layer Security (MLS) protocol, making RCS the first large-scale messaging service to support E2EE between client implementations from different vendors.
However, the RCS Universal Profile 3.0 release introduced an expanded deep link format and several smaller improvements, such as improved codecs for exchanging audio messages and simplified subscription management with business message senders.
The introduction of end-to-end encryption does not remove the previously available RCS messaging features between iOS and Android users. Users will still be able to send group messages, share high-quality media, and see read receipts and typing indicators.
Apple, in a comment to 9to5Mac, said it would add end-to-end encryption to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS in future system updates, but did not specify an exact timeframe.