Apple’s iOS 18 update added Rich Communication Services (RCS), which meant better integration with Android users, including media sharing and chat. Now the GSMA has added end-to-end encryption (E2EE), which Apple will implement to allow iPhone users to share E2EE files and messages with Android users. The new specs make RCS the first mainstream messaging service to support interoperable E2EE between different providers, according to the GSMA. Coupled with SIM-based authentication, “E2EE will provide RCS users with the highest level of privacy and security for protection” from fraud and threats, GSMA adds.

“End-to-end encryption is a powerful privacy and security technology that iMessage has supported since the beginning, and now we are pleased to have helped lead a cross industry effort to bring end-to-end encryption to the RCS Universal Profile published by the GSMA,” Apple spokesperson Shane Bauer told The Verge, noting that the company plans to “add support for end-to-end encrypted RCS messages to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS in future software updates.”

Previously, Apple made E2EE messaging available through its proprietary iMessage system, but it didn’t extend to cross-platform messaging because the GSMA standard for RCS didn’t support it. In an announcement, GSMA called its new RCS spec for E2EE — which leverages the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) open standard for Message Layer Security —  a “milestone.”

Unlike older texting and file-sharing methods, MLS doesn’t protect content only while it’s transmitting but also ensures that only the sender and intended recipient can access the information (regardless of the devices or networks involved).

The new GSMA specifications “use RCS Universal Profile 3.0, a cross-platform encryption protocol that will make it easier for iPhones and Android devices to identify each other,” explains Gizmodo, adding that “the profile allows for richer deep linking, better audio codec for voice messaging between parties, and ease of unsubscribing from a subscription text thread.”

The protocol will also support other “high-resolution messaging capabilities,” such as “tap-backs, read receipts, typing indicators, group messaging, and the ability to send photos without dialing down the quality,” according to Gizmodo.

Apple has yet to provide a timeline for supporting RCS Universal Profile 3.0, other to say it will be “in a future software update, likely sometime in the iOS 19 lifecycle,” writes 9to5Mac in a report that includes Apple’s official statement on the matter.