A MAJOR upgrade will shake up texting, making messages between iPhones and Androids easier, more secure, and better than ever for billions.
Apple has announced that it will support encrypted RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging, finally allowing seamless and private texting between users of different phone brands.
2
The move means iPhone and Android users will soon be able to send messages that end-to-end encrypted (E2EE), preventing third parties, including phone carriers and tech companies from accessing their conversation
The upgrade follows the latest RCS standard update from the GSM Association (GSMA), which has been working on enabling E2EE messaging between different platforms since last year.
Apple, long known for its secure iMessage system, has now confirmed its involvement in a broader industry effort to improve RCS security.
“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,” said Apple spokesperson Shane Bauer.
Apple said it will introduce E2EE RCS messaging in future updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, an watchOS, but no official release date has been confirmed yet.
The update is expected to roll out alongside an upcoming iOS version, possibly later this year.
Google, which has long supported E2EE for RCS messages between Android users via Google Messages, is also working to implement the new GSMA standard.
“We’re excited to have this updated specification and work as quickly as possible with the mobile ecosystem to implement and extend this important user protection to cross-platform RCS messaging,” said Google spokesperson Ed Fernandez.
This upgrade will significantly improve the security and reliability of messaging between Android and iPhone users.
Previously, only messages sent through iMessage were encrypted on iPhones, leaving RCS texts between different platforms vulnerable.
With this approach, users can enjoy a more secure, feature-rich messaging experience regardless if their phone brand.
2
