Will Apple’s RCS Include End to End Encryption?

Apple announced that they will be adopting RCS for iPhones. This happened in November, and my first reaction was pure excitement. But that excitement swiftly turned to disappointment. And here’s why.

TLDR on these terms in case you didn’t see my RCS vs iMessaging video from August. iMessaging is a protocol and app that Apple preloads on their iPhones for messaging. It allows conversations between iPhone users to get high resolution photos and videos, fancy emoji replies, easy to set up group texts, and strong end to end encryption.

Google also has a messaging protocol built into their app and running RCS or Rich Communication Service. Now, RCS is an open protocol - the Universal Profile - which any company can use, and Google took Universal Profile RCS and made it a little bit better with their own version that they built into Google Messages, which is the app that comes preloaded on Android phones. Google Messages lets anyone else with Google Messages installed get end to end encryption as well as all the fancy bells and whistles like high resolution pictures and videos, easy group creation, and fun reactions and customizations.

Since they use different protocols, that’s why your photos from your iPhone look like potatoes when you send them to someone on an Android phone and vice versa. This is also why you don’t get end to end encryption, which is a big problem for privacy nerds. It’s also why if you’re on iPhone, your android friends have green bubbles when they send you messages.

You and your friends can get around these issues by all downloading the same app no matter what you’re using - you could all switch to Signal or WhatsApp, etc. But for the well over 50% of my audience that lives here in the states, not a lot of people download third party apps for texting, like everyone does overseas. So our friends in Europe and Asia don’t really experience this problem, but we do here. It’s incredibly tough to get friends and family to switch to a third party app for messaging since they’d also have to get all their friends to do that too. And here in the US, culturally, we just use what’s preloaded on our phones.

I won’t go into the politics of why Apple gives you green bubbles - I talked about that in August. But Apple has consistently said they won’t implement RCS. But now that Apple has backtracked, back in November, saying that they’ll bring RCS to iMessaging in 2024, we need to have an updated chat. And thanks to today’s sponsor, I’m able to bring this updated video to you.

According to reports, iMessage will get RCS Universal Profile later this year. This is the standard published by the GSM Association, not Google’s version for Google Messages. So in theory, that means iPhone and Android users will get read receipts, typing indicators, emoji reactions, high quality video and photos, and more cross platform. And RCS will work over mobile data or wifi. According to 9to5Mac, RCS will exist separately from iMessages when available, and SMS and MMS will exist as a fallback when needed.

So, since they’re supporting the Universal Profile, that is the version that doesn’t come with end to end encryption. Apple still expects people to continue to use iMessage and has stated this is the best option still for privacy and security for their users.

When this news was originally announced, I was like “awesome! I can finally send secure messages to my fam on iPhones” because I’m an Android girlie. But once I read they were supporting the version that doesn’t have encryption, my response was “of course”.

But to be fair, Apple has also stated that they want to work with GSMA members to improve RCS and that includes making the standard more secure. So at the time being once this is implemented on iPhones, we’ll get the nice features, but no end to end encryption until the Universal Profile is improved to include it. And that is going to require a ton of companies to work together, to agree on the standard.

I hope that eventually the Universal Profile does indeed add E2EE so our messages are truly private no matter which app or OS you use. But we’re not there yet, even with Apple adding RCS.

I have a feeling Apple is adding RCS to get in front of any regulatory powers, because the EU has this legislation coming down the pipeline called the Digital Markets Act. Apple has been listed as a “gatekeeper” under this legislation, even though they’ve appealed that designation, which means they’d have to offer fair competition and open up for third parties by March of this year. So for example, messaging apps will have the obligation of being interoperable with competitors.

If Apple truly believes that privacy is a fundamental human right, like their website and advertising says, then they will actually work with competitor brands and make RCS a real, interoperable protocol that offers end to end encryption. Encryption in transit is nice, but E2EE is the standard these apps should live by.

I suspect my bubbles will still be green, because Apple wants us all to buy iPhones, but this is a step in the right direction, even if it was brought on by international legislation. But I’m glad to see the pressure finally making changes.

If E2EE does eventually come to Universal Profile, which I hope it does, that means we should also bring Google back into the conversation. At that point, there would need to be an update to Google Messages to also support Universal Profile instead of just Googles implementation of RCS so that everyone using Android could get encryption with people not just the ones using Google Messages.