The special Google Messages icon for iOS-Android RCS chats has been removed

With iOS 18 Developer Beta 2 installed, iPhone users with AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon subscriptions can start messaging their Android friends, family, and coworkers using RCS. This brings features like delivery receipts, typing indicators, high-quality images, and videos to conversations between iOS and Android users. Some of these features aren’t working yet, which is typical of a beta release.

Apple iPhone-Android RCS Messages does not support end-to-end encryption at this time, which was indicated on Google Messages by a padlock icon with a slash through it. Google Messages has its own end-to-end encryption for one-to-one and group conversations that Apple does not support. The icon itself was visible under every message sent and received via Google Messages when an Android user was chatting with an iPhone user who supported RCS. If you’re wondering why I’m writing this in the past tense, it’s because as of today, the “no end-to-end encryption” icon has disappeared from Google Messages.

In the red box on the left is the “no end-to-end encryption” icon which is removed on the right | Image credit – 9to5Mac

According to a report, the removal of the “No end-to-end encryption” icon is due to a server-side update related to Google Messages beta versions. There is no reason for Google to continue showing the “No end-to-end encryption” icon because there is nothing an iPhone user can do to remove that slash that covers the lock icon.

Currently, the version of RCS supported by iOS does not include end-to-end encryption. It encrypts messages in transit, but your carrier will be able to read all your messages. What will happen to end-to-end encryption when the stable version of iOS 18 The app’s release date is unknown, but we can tell you that the text bubbles will remain green when an iPhone user chats with an Android user via RCS. Only time will tell if this means that the green bubble harassment by iPhone users will continue.

Of all the improvements that iPhone and Android users will experience with the features that come with iOS’s support for RCS, perhaps the best one is the way images and videos that are sent and received will appear. Previously, when iPhone and Android users had to send each other messages via SMS and MMS, the shared images were often blurry and out of view. Videos were also difficult to view. But that can end now if you’re willing to take a chance on installing RCS. iOS 18 beta developer.

With the drop in battery life and the typical bugs of iOS beta, it might be better to wait for the stable version to be released later this year. By then, we could see iOS add end-to-end encryption to Google Messages with its RCS support.