Apple’s RCS messaging on iOS is beset by security issues, but a fix is in the works
Apple has enabled RCS messaging in iOS 18 and it’s not as private or secure as other apps – but a fix is coming.
When it comes to the age-old iOS versus Android debate, messaging has long been a point of contention. Apple’s recent adoption of the RCS messaging standard – allowing more seamless and feature-rich interactions between iOS and Android users – has helped settle things a little now that iOS 18 has launched, but it looks like there are still plenty of problems with how RCS works on Apple’s iPhones.
According to the Washington Post, the biggest problem right now is that of security. For instance, when you send messages between iOS devices using the iMessage protocol, everything is end-to-end encrypted. Yet that’s not the case when messages are sent between iOS and Android users with RCS. And if there’s just one Android user in an RCS group chat otherwise populated by iOS users, end-to-end encryption isn’t used at all.
The issues aren’t just limited to security. Stickers sent by iOS users to Android devices will disappear after a few seconds on the recipient’s phone. As well as that, you’ll also struggle to send a text to an Android user when your Wi-Fi connection is weak. And if you want to schedule an RCS message from your iPhone, you can only do it when texting other Apple devices. That means the system is far from perfect.
Upgrading RCS
(Image credit: Apple)
The whole idea of Apple adopting the RCS standard on its iPhones was that it would enable feature-rich, secure messaging whether you’re texting an iPhone user or an Android fan. It works in some ways, but it’s clear that there are still teething problems with the new system.
It’s been suggested that Apple could fix these difficulties by simply “adding on” the missing functionality in the way apps like WhatsApp and Signal already have done. Instead, though, both Apple and Google are reportedly working to fix these issues by upgrading the RCS standard itself.
That might be a more laborious fix, but it could ultimately be the right one, as it would mean any app or device using RCS would benefit from the changes, without the companies who make them having to come up with their own solutions.
The drawback is that this process could take longer, as Apple and Google’s improvements will need to go through a lengthy approval process before they can be implemented. Until then, Apple fans might want to use a secure app like Signal or WhatsApp to ensure that their messages are always encrypted, as Apple’s implementation of RCS isn’t yet up to scratch from a privacy and security perspective.
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