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All change for iMessage.<\/span><\/p>\n NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n It\u2019s finally here \u2014 almost. Almost 18-months after the FBI warned Americans to stop texting between iPhone and Android, Apple has fixed the problem. Next week, iOS 26.5 should bring encrypted cross-platform messaging for the first time. <\/p>\n But Apple warns this \u201cis not available to all.” <\/p>\n That availability affects devices \u2014 suggesting not all iPhones will be capable of sending fully secure RCS messages \u2014 and also carriers, which affects even iPhones with the upgrade. And it\u2019s this second type of availability that\u2019s the bigger issue.<\/p>\n Forbes<\/span>\u2018Increasingly Urgent\u2019\u2014Microsoft Issues Password And 2FA Warning<\/span>By Zak Doffman<\/span><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n When you send a WhatsApp message it is always<\/em><\/a> end-to-end encrypted. That\u2019s because WhatsApp controls all \u201cends\u201d of the chat. The clients (apps) ensure that every message is secure. That encryption can never fall away.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the same when you send an iMessage to other Apple users \u2014 the infamous blue bubbles. Every iMessage is fully encrypted. It can\u2019t send messages any other way. If one \u201cend\u201d of the chat is not using iMessage on an Apple device, the bubble is green and it\u2019s clearly noted that this is a text or RCS message.<\/p>\n Encrypted RCS \u2014 “not available to all.”<\/span><\/p>\n The Mac Observer<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n With Google Messages it\u2019s more complex. If all \u201cends\u201d are using an updated version of Google Messages, then RCS messages are fully encrypted. But it\u2019s not as clear when that encryption is not running. Users need to check.<\/p>\n That\u2019s even more acute with the new upgrade. Apple\u2019s and Google\u2019s deployment of fully encrypted RCS relies on carriers not apps. The encryption is baked into the protocol<\/a>, not applied by the iMessage or Google Messages envelope. An RCS chat between an Android and iPhone user could change from end-to-end encrypted to not, depending on which networks the phones are connected to at the time.<\/p>\n All change for iMessage.<\/span><\/p>\n NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n In its latest release notes<\/a> ahead of the new version of iOS going live, Apple says that \u201cend-to-end encrypted RCS messaging (beta) in Messages is available with supported carriers and will roll out over time.\u201d There\u2019s an Apple messaging website<\/a>, which should carry this detail when it\u2019s available.<\/p>\n All this means that when fully encrypted RCS messaging goes live some time next week, Apple and Google users will still be more secure when using their respective walled gardens. Or when using WhatsApp or Signal. That won\u2019t change.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n