Definition
The GSMA Universal Profile is the common RCS specification that carriers, device makers and messaging apps implement so RCS works the same way across networks and phones. Version 3.0 added end-to-end encryption based on Messaging Layer Security (MLS).
Before the Universal Profile, RCS was fragmented into carrier-specific variants that did not interoperate. The GSMA's Universal Profile defines one feature set, including chat, group chat, file transfer, read receipts, typing indicators and business messaging, so that compliant clients and networks can work together.
The GSMA announced in March 2025 that the new Universal Profile release defines how Messaging Layer Security (MLS) applies to RCS. It described this as interoperable end-to-end encryption between client implementations from different providers. The same release also added richer deep links for business engagement and better audio codecs.
Device and carrier support for a given profile version arrives gradually. For example, Apple supports RCS on iPhone from iOS 18 and documents encrypted RCS from iOS 26.5 where the carriers support it.
For businesses, the Universal Profile is mostly background: RBM features and reach depend on what Google, the carriers and the handsets in each market actually support.