Apple’s Update Decision – Bad News Confirmed for Millions of iPhone Users

Updated on September 18 with GSMA announcement regarding the future of RCS.

As hundreds of millions of iPhone users update their devices to iOS 18, dimming their home screens and navigating the new Photos app, the reality is that this update is more about what’s missing than what’s been released. No brainer from Apple — at least not yet, and another glaring omission that’s also been confirmed.

The bad news affects RCS, the biggest non-AI update coming with iOS 18 that brings rich messaging features to standard iPhone-to-Android messaging for the first time, but which The Washington Post warns, leaves “chats with Android friends still (with) security risks and other breaches that Apple could have avoided.”

ForbesGoogle Issues New Warning to Chrome Users – Update Deadline Expires TodayBy Zak Doffman

There’s still a lot of excitement as the shiny new SMS v2 update is here. “We’ve known it was coming for almost a year, but today is the day we’ve been waiting for” Android Police says. “The texting situation between the default messaging apps on Android and iPhone is getting a huge overhaul… Now that Apple has officially released iOS 18, iPhones can finally use the protocol that’s set to replace SMS and MMS.”

But those annoying green bubbles persist; it’s not a magic formula. “The drama has been going on for so long” Gizmodo says, “that we need to recognize the little things that add up to a better texting experience.” That includes typing ellipses, read receipts, sharing blur-free images. But with “growing pains” that often seem to depend on the generation of Android phone the messages are being sent to, the network conditions, and the seamless cross-platform experience we’ve come to expect from other apps.

But the more serious issue is hidden from view. “On some important issues” Post says that “Apple’s messaging app is stuck in the clamshell era, which undermines the security of everyone’s messages.” Gizmodo says “we have to acknowledge that iOS users will have a different experience texting friends on iPhone than Android users. The version of RCS that Apple uses is not encrypted, unlike iMessage.”

So was this inevitable and unsolvable? No — in no understandable way. “Apple blames much of the limitations of the technology that connects iPhone and Android messaging apps” Post he says. “That’s an incomplete explanation. Apple’s choices also make chatting with Android devices worse.”

This means — as I explained earlier — that Apple and Google could work together on a secure API between their messengers to fully secure content, better competing with Signal, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or texting within their own walled gardens. Or Apple could ship an Android iMessage app.

Instead, it doesn’t compete with the cross-platform security of those messaging platforms. And that’s on top of some of the other clunky compromises that come with SMS V2 over a dedicated cross-platform app.

While RCS gained popularity thanks to Google’s managed push across the Android ecosystem, it did so via a proprietary client that adds a fully encrypted layer along with other updates. RCS itself doesn’t include full security, and it’s a limited protocol that Apple adopted in its iOS 18 update. Apple has said it will work with mobile industry standards makers to push for an improved protocol. But that won’t happen anytime soon. And until then, these compromises remain.

The net effect is that Apple’s iMessage update gives users in Europe, Asia, or Africa, where apps like WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, and others dominate, no reason to switch, and in the U.S., where WhatsApp is on the rise, it’s just validation of Meta’s year-long relentless privacy campaign.

All the more interesting is Telegram and the recent adventures of its founder and frontman Pavel Durov. Telegram’s problem has always been the gap between its marketing and reality. The messenger plays the security card, but it also doesn’t fully encrypt its messages, like RCS. Telegram’s real game has always been its dishonest refusal to cooperate with the authorities — until now, one might assume — and its secrecy — which better facilitates user anonymity.

Durov’s arrest has left many of Telegram’s nearly 1 billion users wondering who will now have access to messages stored on Telegram’s servers, protected only by the platform’s encryption (to which it holds the keys) and its voluntary policies.

There are other trade-offs in the new RCS connection between iPhone and Android — which isn’t surprising, given that the connection relies on a cellular protocol rather than a more dedicated cross-platform integration. If Google and Apple had set out to deliver a less clunky, more secure messaging experience between Android and iPhone, none of these issues or trade-offs would be affecting millions of users now.

While the initial launch of RCS has been disappointing due to these glaring omissions, there is some good news — perhaps. The GSMA, the organization that sets mobile standards, published a blog post Tuesday after iOS 18 was released.

ForbesSamsung’s New Update Surprises Galaxy Users – It Changes EverythingBy Zak Doffman

“Today we’re celebrating a significant milestone in the evolution of messaging by introducing support for Rich Communication Services (RCS) on iPhone,” wrote GSMA Chief Technology Officer Tom Van Pelt. “This is a step forward in bringing the feature-rich RCS messaging experience to more users on both iOS and Android.”

While Van Pelt highlighted ongoing feature updates, “like typing indicators, read receipts, high-quality media sharing, and improved group messaging,” the real point of the post was much more important.

“The next major milestone for the RCS Universal Profile is the addition of important user protections such as interoperable end-to-end encryption,” he announced. “This will be the first implementation of standardized, interoperable message encryption across different computing platforms, solving significant technical challenges such as key federation and cryptographically enforced group membership.”

Given Apple’s focus on security and privacy, it was surprising that Google was the first to strengthen it, before Apple, but RCS on the iPhone has always seemed more important to Google than Apple. Users have long had the impression that Apple wouldn’t take this step if it could be avoided. That’s why it was such a surprising turn of events when it was first announced last year. I’ve reached out to Apple for any comments on the GSMA’s news in light of the release of iOS 18.

“We’re proud to offer end-to-end encryption (E2EE) in Google Messages with RCS starting in 2020,” wrote Elmar Weber, head of Android and Business Communications, on LinkedIn. “We believe E2EE is a key part of secure messaging and are working with the broader ecosystem to bring cross-platform E2EE to RCS chats as soon as possible. Google is committed to providing users with a secure and private messaging experience, and we continue to strive to make E2EE the standard for all RCS users, regardless of platform.”

ForbesMicrosoft Windows New Deadline – You Have 3 Weeks to Update Your PCBy Zak Doffman

The real question is why do this as an update to the standard RCS protocol, rather than a simpler and more efficient API between Google Messages (the standard Android messenger) and iMessage (the standard iPhone messenger), which would be technically easier and more efficient, and would also provide a better sense of security from start to finish. Outside of those two platforms, the feature-rich RCS is now becoming less interesting, especially in light of Samsung’s decision to move to the Android standard.

The second question is how long this will last, and when users can expect an update that will essentially just bring RCS closer to where other platforms are today. That’s unlikely to happen anytime soon — and until then, challenges remain.

“Even if messaging apps become RCS-compliant,” Samsung noted, explaining why it’s abandoning its own platform in favor of Google’s, “availability may be limited depending on which app the other party is using. That’s why we’ve decided to make Google Messages a common messaging platform that lets Galaxy users communicate more freely. It also allows messaging apps to respond more quickly and efficiently to changes in the RCS standard.”

In short, fully encrypted, more fluid platforms — my picks would be Signal and WhatsApp — don’t have either of these issues, though be aware of the metadata you’re sharing if you use WhatsApp. But I don’t see why anyone would switch their everyday messenger to iMessage or Google Messages. It’s just not worth the compromises or the risks.