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We’re formally simply over per week away from WWDC 2025. Whereas we anticipate huge design enhancements and much-needed Apple Intelligence enhancements to iOS, Apple has the chance to do one thing it’s fairly good at: flexing its privateness prowess.
Earlier this 12 months, Apple introduced that it was main the cost on a cross-industry effort to deliver end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to the RCS Common Profile, which is printed by the GSMA. The corporate mentioned that it might come to iPhone in a future software program replace. Google quickly after jumped in, stating it too was ‘dedicated to offering a safe messaging expertise.’
With this functionality integrated into the usual, all Wealthy Communication Normal (RCS) messaging between iPhone and Android customers could be fully unreadable to backend intermediaries—its contents encrypted, scrambled into gibberish, and solely unlockable by the decryption key saved on the consumer gadgets. This could be an enormous transfer for consumer privateness.
For the reason that launch of iOS 18 beta 2 in June, Apple has added RCS help, permitting iPhone customers to lastly ship wealthy messages with audio and bigger media information to Android customers who aren’t utilizing iMessage. It was a welcoming transfer for folks with dad and mom who refuse to get an iPhone. In contrast to the {industry} customary SMS, RCS affords acquainted options reminiscent of learn receipts and the basic typing indication animation, nevertheless it additionally provides the flexibility to vastly enhance privateness and safety.
The key phrase is “potential.”
There’s a little bit of a false impression that RCS already has end-to-end encryption baked in; this isn’t true. Google, which is broadly identified for utilizing RCS in its Messages app, solely affords E2EE as an additional layer of safety completely between Android-to-Android gadgets. That is much like iMessage, the place Apple affords AES encryption solely between iPhone customers utilizing the service. Nonetheless, if an iPhone reaches out to a non-Apple system, texts are despatched within the clear, unencrypted, and in plaintext. Carriers may supply some degree of encryption as soon as a textual content is acquired and saved on their servers, however the toast is burnt at that time. Plaintext transit additionally opens customers as much as an pointless assault floor, the place malicious third events might attempt to intercept packets for textual content over a community.
In a press release to 9to5Mac in March, Apple mentioned:
Finish-to-end encryption is a robust privateness and safety expertise that iMessage has supported because the starting, and now we’re happy to have helped lead a cross {industry} effort to deliver end-to-end encryption to the RCS Common Profile printed by the GSMA. We are going to add help for end-to-end encrypted RCS messages to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS in future software program updates.
What higher place to show Apple’s system privateness and safety lead than on the World Large Builders Convention? This shall be a closely coveted occasion because the gradual, deleterious launch of Apple Intelligence options on Apple’s repute. I can’t consider a greater manner for the corporate to reaffirm its place as an {industry} chief than having GMSA, who will doubtless be on the occasion, “on stage” throughout the prerecorded keynote, bolstering Apple’s dedication to privateness by bringing E2EE to the RCS Common Profile.
I perceive it’s solely been a 12 months since RCS hit iPhone, however this function already looks like a very long time coming. Apple additionally hasn’t given RCS a lot airtime. Aside from press releases, the corporate talked about “RCS help” solely as soon as in closing throughout the iOS 18 announcement a part of the WWDC24 keynote.
With Apple’s preliminary announcement in March that encrypted RCS was coming to iPhone, the timing feels proper. I hope the corporate makes a baller transfer right here and proclaims the function at WWDC 2025. Worst case, we get a press launch someday down the highway.
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