RCS messaging: end-to-end encryption is coming, Apple promises
iPhone and Android users will soon be able to communicate via the standard messaging apps without having to do without end-to-end encryption.
(Image: Tada Images / Shutterstock.com)
The Rich Communication Standard (RCS) now supports end-to-end encryption at protocol level. This was announced by the industry association GSMA on Friday. Part of the latest RCS specification (RCS Universal Profile 3.0) is also end-to-end encryption, which relies on the Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol as the cryptography standard.
This enables text messages and files to be sent securely and confidentially between clients, even on different platforms, explained the GSMA. RCS is also the first major messaging service to enable "interoperable end-to-end encryption" between clients from different providers.
Apple holds out the prospect of support – coming via iOS update
Apple also announced that it would support this in its iOS, iPadOS, macOS and watchOS operating systems through "future software updates". The company is pleased to have played a leading role in the introduction of end-to-end encryption in the RCS specification – as part of an industry-wide initiative, Apple emphasized in a statement to US media such as The Verge.
When exactly the implementation will take place and how end-to-end encrypted RCS messages will be marked in Apple's Messages app remains unclear for the time being. In contrast to the blue iMessages (with end-to-end encryption), unprotected RCS messages have so far been green – just like SMS.
In the latest beta of iOS 18.4, there does not yet appear to be any support for this, as developers report. Google Messages, which is pre-installed on many Android devices, supports end-to-end encryption, but only for communication between two Google Messages clients – and not cross-platform between iOS and Android.
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Apple didn't want to know about RCS for a long time
Apple's iOS has only supported the exchange of RCS messages since the latest version 18. The manufacturer had apparently refused to integrate the standard for years, but then suddenly relented – shortly before the EU Commission made its decision on whether iMessage is a central platform service and should be regulated accordingly. Last year, the Commission finally decided that iMessage is not a gatekeeper service after all. Accordingly, iMessage does not have to meet any interoperability requirements.
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