Major privacy concern with RCS on iPhones to finally be addressed with upcoming update

For iPhone users, texting has always felt secure, thanks to iMessage and its end-to-end encryption. But when messaging Android users, that sense of security hasn’t been the same. That’s because Rich Communication Services, or RCS, which Apple added to iPhones with iOS 18 last fall, didn’t come with end-to-end encryption. Without it, messages could potentially be seen by third parties like carriers or hackers. It’s been a glaring privacy gap. Now, Apple has promised to fix this with an upcoming software update that will bring encrypted RCS messaging to iPhones.

When Apple rolled out RCS, it was a win for cross-platform texting between iPhone and Android users. The catch? Unlike iMessage, which has had end-to-end encryption since day one, RCS messages weren’t locked down. This left conversations vulnerable, a point raised by outlets like The Verge last year when they noted that not all RCS providers offered this level of security, but Google Messages was an exception.

The good news came recently when Apple teamed up with the GSM Association, or GSMA, to tackle this issue. The GSMA just released new RCS specifications that include end-to-end encryption using something called the Messaging Layer Security protocol. This makes RCS the first widely used messaging service to offer secure, interoperable encryption across different platforms. Apple didn’t waste time. In a statement to 9to5Mac, the company said it helped lead the effort to bring this standard to RCS and will roll it out to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS in future updates.

What does this mean for users? Soon, texting an Android user from your iPhone over RCS will be as private as an iMessage chat. No more worrying about who might peek at your messages. It’s a big deal in today’s world, where scams and privacy threats are all too common. The GSMA’s Tom Van Pelt highlighted this in a recent post (screenshot below), saying the update will boost protection against fraud and other risks.

While we don’t know exactly when this update will hit, for anyone who values secure communication, this is an improvement worth looking out for.