Recently, the GSMA has announced the latest iteration of RCS (Rich Communication Services), Universal Profile 3.0, which integrates end-to-end encryption (E2EE) through the Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol.

When RCS messaging became available on the iPhone with the rollout of iOS 18, the technical director of the GSM Association teased that the next major milestone for the messaging standard is the addition of interoperable end-to-end encryption.

In a new announcement, Apple said it will add support for encrypted RCS messages in future updates to iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, and WatchOS. This means that any rich text messages exchanged between Apple and Android users will automatically be secured through the latest industry standard.