Apple will soon implement support for encrypted RCS messages with Android users.
Building bridges without blue bubbles.
iPhone and Android users will soon be able to exchange end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) RCS messages thanks to the newly updated RCS specifications. The GSMA announced that the latest RCS standard incorporates E2EE based on the Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol, allowing for interoperable encryption between different platform providers for the first time.
The GSM Association reported that it began working on enabling E2EE for messages sent between Android and iPhone in September of last year. This E2EE feature aims to protect user privacy and security by preventing third parties, such as messaging providers or telecom operators, from accessing the content of the messages.
The new RCS standard was developed in collaboration with mobile operators, device manufacturers, and technology providers, including Apple. An Apple spokesperson, Shane Bauer, stated, “End-to-end encryption is a powerful privacy and security technology that iMessage has supported from the beginning, and we are now pleased to have led a joint industry effort to bring end-to-end encryption to the universal RCS profile published by the GSMA.” He also announced that support for end-to-end encrypted RCS messages will be included in future software updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS.
Apple included support for RCS in iPhones as part of the iOS 18 update in September. While Apple's iMessage system already supported E2EE, it did not apply to RCS messaging due to the previous RCS standard not allowing cross-platform support. Meanwhile, Google Messages had also enabled E2EE by default for RCS messages, but only in conversations between Google Messages users and not with those using iMessage or other RCS clients on Android.
A Google spokesperson, Ed Fernandez, expressed, “We have always been committed to providing a secure messaging experience, and Google Messages users have had end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) RCS messaging for years. We are excited to have this updated GSMA specification and to work as quickly as possible with the mobile ecosystem to implement and extend this important protection for users in cross-platform RCS messaging.”
