‘Confusing’—Apple Changes iPhone Green Bubbles After 15 Years

Apple’s updated Messages app adds RCS support that can be encrypted, so green iPhone bubbles no longer always mean a chat is unencrypted.

Blue bubbles still indicate iMessage between Apple devices, but the old blue-versus-green security shortcut is now less reliable.

The change in iOS 26.5 makes it harder to tell at a glance whether a conversation is protected end-to-end.

That could confuse users and increase the risk of mistaken assumptions about message security.