IPhones, Android text messages to get enhanced encryption

• Published On: 16 March 2025 at 19:41

Text messages sent between iPhones and Android devices will soon feature end-to-end encryption, marking a significant step forward in digital privacy protection.

This development comes after the GSM Association published new specifications for the Rich Communication Services protocol, which now includes cross-platform E2EE support.

RCS aims to modernise traditional SMS-style messaging by providing advanced features like group chats, typing indicators, read receipts, and file-sharing, which are similar to popular messaging apps like WhatsApp. While many Android phone manufacturers had adopted RCS over the years, Apple was a notable holdout until the release of iOS 18 last year. Despite the addition of core RCS features for cross-platform messaging since then, E2EE has remained absent until now.

End-to-end encryption ensures that a message's content can only be read by the sender and recipient, preventing unauthorised access from intermediaries. This privacy feature has become a key selling point for tech companies, as it assures users that their communications are safe. Apple has provided E2EE via iMessage since 2011, albeit only for iOS devices, while WhatsApp added the feature for its users in 2016.

Google had previously introduced E2EE in its Messages app, but this was a separate effort from the RCS protocol. The challenge of encrypting messages across multiple apps and platforms necessitated a unified approach, which the GSMA has now achieved through the Universal Profile 3.0.

This profile, based on the cryptographic Messaging Layer Security protocol, ensures secure and interoperable RCS messaging across devices, networks, and operators.

Tom Van Pelt, GSMA technical director, emphasised the significance of this breakthrough: "That means that RCS will be the first large-scale messaging service to support interoperable E2EE between client implementations from different providers." E2EE, along with other unique security features such as SIM-based authentication, will provide RCS users with the highest level of privacy and security, ensuring stronger protection from scams, fraud, and other security and privacy threats.

This advancement is a critical step towards securing cross-platform communication, allowing users from both the iPhone and Android ecosystems to safely exchange messages using their native apps.