PSA: RCS E2EE is missing in iOS 27 beta 1, but it will be back

If you’re thinking about installing the shiny new iOS 27 developer beta 1 on your iPhone, be aware that the RCS end-to-end encryption option is missing. There’s no need to panic, though. Apple is not phasing out the feature.

What’s happening in beta 1 is almost certainly just branching. Apple forks a new major version off an internal build before all the latest 26.x work gets merged in, so features that already shipped can quietly fall out of the first beta and turn back up a build or two later. It’s a normal part of the cycle.

After all, shipping a half-working encryption toggle in an unstable build would be worse than not shipping it at all.

The feature itself is an important one.

Unlike texts sent over iMessage, which are always end-to-end encrypted, those sent over RCS aren’t. Green bubble chats between iPhone and Android devices could be read in plaintext while they travel between devices.

Through a collaboration between Apple, Google, and the GSMA, this changed in iOS 26.5 when Apple finally upgraded the Messages app with support for RCS end-to-end encryption.

For those on the latest version of iOS 26, it’s on by default, though whether a given conversation is actually encrypted depends on both your carrier and your contact’s carrier supporting it.

When a thread qualifies, you’ll see a lock icon and an “Encrypted” label up top.

TL;DR: If encrypted RCS matters to you, stay on 26.5 for now. If you’re already on the 27 beta, don’t read the missing toggle as a rollback. You can expect it back in a later build.

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