Why Do Some iMessages Say ‘Encrypted’ On iPhone? Here’s What It Means

Why Do Some iMessages Say ‘Encrypted’ On iPhone? Here’s What It Means

https://www.slashgear.com/2201430/why-do-some-imessages-say-encrypted/

Publish Date: 2026-06-29 18:15:00

Source Domain: www.slashgear.com

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Apart from having some features that Android phones don’t have, one of the main selling points of the iPhone and Apple’s devices has always been security and encryption. You’ve likely heard stories about law enforcement having trouble cracking into an iPhone — that’s how serious Apple is. Being the company’s instant messaging service, iMessage benefits from that security. So, why do some iMessages show encrypted on iPhone, and what does it mean?

The small lock icon, followed by the word Encrypted, might look like you made a mistake, but fret not, as that is actually a very good thing. This is Apple’s way of informing you that the conversation you’re having is fully encrypted. In other words, no one — not carriers and not even Apple — can read the contents of an iMessage, apart from the sender and recipient. You might not know this, but Apple’s iMessage has always been fully encrypted. It’s just that with the recent iOS updates, the company is now making sure to display that fact to its users.

Since iMessage’s introduction with the iOS 5 release back in October 2011, it has had E2EE (end-to-end encryption). The encryption did its thing behind the scenes (and still does), without users being aware. Even if a hacker were to intercept the traffic, they wouldn’t be able to easily read the conversation. This isn’t limited to just text messages, since anything you send through iMessages, including photos and videos, is encrypted too.

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