Google says RCS encryption between Android & iPhone is in the works

Yesterday, Apple officially launched iOS 18 for the general public. The announcement came right after a week the Cupertino giant unveiled the iPhone 16 lineup. Although iOS 18 brought numerous features, many will remember it for bringing RCS (Rich Communication Support) to iPhones. Now that Apple has acted, Google is working on RCS encryption between Android and iPhone.

For the uninitiated, RCS is a carrier-developed messaging standard designed to replace SMS and MMS. Google has been long-pressing Apple to adopt RCS to improve messaging between Android and iPhone. Although Apple has implemented RCS, it’s just based on industry standards and doesn’t include end-to-end encryption. On the other hand, Google’s Messages app comes with RCS inbuilt. In fact, the company also added end-to-end encryption for all Google Messages users.

Google is working on RCS Encryption between Android and iPhone

In a blog post today, the developer of the RCS standard, GSM Association (GSMA), said that Apple’s decision to add RCS support on iOS 18 “is a significant milestone.” The governing body said although it is a major milestone, it’s just the beginning. It also stated, “The next major milestone is for the RCS Universal Profile to add important user protections such as interoperable end-to-end encryption.”

Google’s General Manager Elmar Weber also shared the GSMA’s blog on LinkedIn and wrote “We have been working with the broader ecosystem to bring cross-platform E2EE to RCS chats as soon as possible.” He further added that Google believes end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a vital part of secure messaging. Therefore, it is working continuously “to make E2EE standard for all RCS users irrespective of the platform.”

The company believes there’s still work to do to make messaging better for everyone

Right after Apple announced RCS support on iOS 18, Google quickly responded with a dedicated webpage on its official Android website highlighting Apple’s recent adoption of RCS. However, it added bold text stating “Apple still has more to do.” Google expects Apple to add “the ability to react to media, reply directly to messages in group chats, and more.”

Worth noting that the RCS Univeral Profile 2.7 was finalized back in June with two new features. It included enabling Replies and Reactions to messages that have been sent and received. Another feature was the ability for the message sender to Edit, Recall, and Delete their sent messages which would be applicable for the recipient as well.

Google acknowledges that “though progress has been made with RCS, there’s still work to do to make texting better for everyone.” Time will tell if we’ll see RCS encryption between Android and iPhone. But, one thing is sure, Google is quite serious about it and making progress immensely.