FBI's 'stop texting' warning triggers Apple to make groundbreaking change to messages
Apple is making a major change to iPhone messaging after the FBI warned that replying 'stop' to a text could put millions at risk.
The FBI has become something of a regular voice of warning when it comes to smartphone security. From phishing scams posing as banks and other companies to messages impersonating friends and family members, the threats are getting harder to spot.
Now, one of its most significant recent warnings has prompted Apple to make a change that will affect 1.5 billion iPhones worldwide. The alert follows a vulnerability in cross-platform texting, for example, when an iPhone user messages someone on Android.
While messaging within Apple's own iMessage platform or Google's equivalent is fully encrypted and secure, standard text messages sent between the two operating systems are not.
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The gap has left hundreds of millions of people exposed, and the FBI warns that something as innocent-looking as replying 'stop' to an unsolicited text could be enough to confirm an active number to the criminals and make users a target.
According to Forbes, GSMA, the organisation responsible for setting telecommunications standards, promised a fix 16 months ago. But many are still waiting.
Instead of creating a quick interface between iMessage and Google Messages, the solution is to fix the protocol that controls how messages are sent between platforms. This protocol is called RCS, or Rich Communication Services and is the modern successor to the now-ageing SMS text message standard.
Google already uses RCS as the foundation of its own messaging platform and has been testing the new version for some time. However, for iPhones, RCS currently runs alongside iMessage rather than powering it, so for Apple to make these changes is a huge step.
Early signs of the update began appearing in beta versions of iOS 26.4, and more recent testing of iOS 26.5 has boosted expectations that fully encrypted cross-platform messaging could make it into a final public release in the near future.
But because the fix is at a protocol level rather than the app level, mobile carriers need to support the update standard, so the rollout will be gradual rather than immediate.
“Apple writes in the feature's description that it's still in beta and it works only on certain carriers and devices," CNET reported. "Apple also writes that these encrypted messages will be labelled as such, so you should know when your messages do and don't have this level of protection.”
Forbes noted that the tech giant was in no hurry to open the iPhone to secure cross-platform messaging, but regulatory pressure from China likely accelerated the decision.