In March, Apple said that he was planning to add the support for encrypted RCS messages from start to finish to the messages application in Fuill iOS, iPados, MacOS and Watchos updates, and we are still waiting for this to happen. Since the third beta developer of iOS 26 published this week, the upgrade has not yet been implemented on iPhones.
End -to -end encryption for RCS was announced in March, as part of Version 3.0 of the RCS universal profileA global standard for RCS features and specifications. This means that Apple has indirectly confirmed that it will take charge of RCS Universal Profile 3.0, which not only includes an end -to -end encryption for RCS, but on several other Imessage type improvements for RCs which have been initially introduced into RCS Universal Profile 2.7.
Apple must also wait for operators to implement RCS Universal Profile 3.0, so it is understandable why the process takes time.
Here are five new abilities to expect RCS conversations on the iPhone, iPad and Mac, once Apple has deployed the management of RCS Universal Profile 3.0:
- End -to -end encryption, which will prevent Apple and any other third party from being able to read messages and attachments during their dispatch between the devices, as has always been the case with iMessage
- Online responses
- Change messages
- Insent messages
- Supporting full -fledged tapback for RCS messages, without special solution
The RCS support as a whole was added to the iPhone with iOS 18, which supports the universal profile rcs 2.4. It is indeed a modernized version of the SMS standard, which remains available in the form of a rescue option for text messages on a cellular network.
RCS will play Imessage in many ways. Imessage conversations with Blue Bubbles have already taken care of end-to-end encryption from iOS 5. In addition, Imessage has supported online responses since iOS 14, while the modification and non-debt options were introduced with iOS 16.
It seems likely that Apple deploys these RCS upgrades at a given time in the iOS 26 software cycle, iPados 26, MacOS 26 and Watchos 26.
