iPhone-Android RCS messaging finally gets the security upgrade we’ve been waiting for

Credit: Ryan Haines / Android Authority TL;DR Apple has released the iOS 26.5 release candidate, which officially introduces end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS conversations between iPhone and Android. A new encryption toggle in the Messages settings will now be enabled by default, preventing third parties from intercepting chats. While currently in the RC phase, the feature is expected to reach the stable branch and become widely available to all users very soon.