The GSM Association (GSMA), the global entity responsible for overseeing the development of the Rich Communications Services (RCS) protocol, announced on Tuesday its plan to introduce end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to secure communication between Android and iOS platforms.
According to Tom Van Pelt, GSMA’s technical director, “The upcoming milestone for the RCS Universal Profile will integrate critical user protections, including interoperable end-to-end encryption.” He emphasized that this would mark the first instance of standardized encryption between different operating systems, tackling significant hurdles such as key federation and cryptographic group membership.
This announcement follows closely on the heels of Apple’s release of iOS 18, which introduces RCS support in its Messages app. The update brings enhanced features like message reactions, typing indicators, read receipts, and high-resolution media sharing.
While RCS offers notable improvements over traditional SMS, it currently lacks default end-to-end encryption, a gap that Google filled on Android by integrating the Signal protocol for securing RCS chats.
Earlier this year, Apple expressed its intention to collaborate with GSMA members on encryption integration. Notably, Apple’s proprietary iMessage platform already features E2EE.
“We look forward to continued collaboration within the mobile ecosystem to further develop the RCS standard, ensuring that end-to-end encryption remains interoperable and keeps all RCS messages secure and private,” Van Pelt added.
In July, Google also outlined plans to embed the Message Layer Security (MLS) protocol into its Android Messages app, aiming to foster cross-platform compatibility and enhance secure communication across services.
Meanwhile, Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, recently outlined its approach to enabling interoperability with third-party messaging services. This development is part of Meta’s compliance efforts with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), while striving to maintain E2EE “to the fullest extent possible.”
“Building third-party messaging functionality presents significant technical challenges,” Meta acknowledged. “Ensuring both privacy and security requires a shared commitment across platforms. We’ve made substantial progress, but there is still much to achieve.”
