Apple ready to enable encrypted RCS messages on iPhones
RCS messaging support hit iPhones with iOS 18
You’ll be able to exchange end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) messages with Android and iPhone users soon, thanks to newly updated RCS specifications from the GSM Association (GSMA).
The GSMA has announced that the latest RCS standard now includes E2EE support, which makes it possible to swap encrypted messages between both platforms for the first time. Work on this feature began in September 2024, and the new E2EE supporting standard was developed in collaboration with “mobile operators, device manufacturers, and technology providers,” including Apple.
Apple will introduce support in future software updates
In a statement, Apple said (italics my own): “End-to-end encryption is a powerful privacy and security technology that iMessage has supported since the beginning, and now we are pleased to have helped lead a cross industry effort to bring end-to-end encryption to the RCS Universal Profile published by the GSMA. We will add support for end-to-end encrypted RCS messages to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS in future software updates.”
That means the company will introduce this support in updates for all its platforms in the coming months, having introduced RCS support last year. It is not clear if it intends to wait until its next major softwre update to rollin these features, but it would be preferable if it simply added it swiftly, given it already now supports RCS messaging.
Tom Van Pelt, Technical Director, GSMA explained: “These procedures ensure that messages and other content such as files remain confidential and secure as they travel between clients. That means that RCS will be the first large-scale messaging service to support interoperable E2EE between client implementations from different providers.
“Together with other unique security features such as SIM-based authentication, E2EE will provide RCS users with the highest level of privacy and security for stronger protection from scams, fraud and other security and privacy threats.”
Why secure messaging matters
The move to support RCS with E2EE across platforms is a big change for the industry. “This move makes it possible for cross-platform messages to be end-to-end encrypted—a security feature that would protect a whole host of vulnerable groups, including pregnant people, LBGTQ+ people, activists, immigrants, and journalists,” said Caitlin Seeley George at Fight for the Future.
“In a world where privacy is under attack, and police can force companies to share anyone’s personal messages, we cannot take the importance of secure messaging lightly.”
RCS Universal Profile 3.0 also makes it easier for users to engage with businesses over RCS messaging through a richer deep link format and includes additional smaller enhancements such as improved codecs for audio messaging and easier management of subscriptions with business messaging senders. In addition, RCS continues to support a range of interoperable messaging functions between iOS and Android users, such as group messaging, the ability to share high-resolution media, and see read receipts and typing indicators.
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