Apple Will Fully Encrypt RCS Messages Between Androids and iPhones

It’s been less than a year since iPhones were granted the ability to send messages to Green Bubbles unfettered, and only now is proper end-to-end encryption making an appearance. Better late than never. The GSM Association announced new specifications for RCS, requiring it to be end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) based on a protocol called the Messaging Layer Security (MLS). The organization laid out the plan in a press release, citing the need to provide users with “the highest level of privacy and security.”

The new specifications will use RCS Universal Profile 3.0, a cross-platform encryption protocol that will make it easier for iPhones and Android devices to identify each other. The profile allows for richer deep linking, better audio codec for voice messaging between parties, and ease of unsubscribing from a subscription text thread. The protocol will continue to support the rest of the high-resolution messaging capabilities introduced in the initial rollout of the RCS protocol, including tap-backs, read receipts, typing indicators, group messaging, and the ability to send photos without dialing down the quality.

On Apple’s end, the company confirmed that it would support end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging and extend it to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS in future software updates. “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,” Apple spokesperson Shane Bauer told The Verge. As for Google’s side of things, Android users already have E2EE between them by default for RCS texts.

What does all this mean? Messages you send to your Android brothers and sisters won’t hit Apple’s servers before they’re delivered. They’ll float on to where they’re supposed to go, encrypted in the tube. But remember to turn on Advanced Data Protection for your iCloud backups if you don’t want Apple peeking in on your conversations. Not that it would—maybe if you were subpoenaed for some reason—but we’re mainly speaking theoretically here. This option ensures all data that’s backed up to iCloud is encrypted.