Google wants to bring end-to-end encryption to cross-platform messaging
A lot of messenger services these days support end-to-end encryption. The only problem is that it requires that users use the same service, meaning that users on WhatsApp will have to send messages to another WhatsApp user if they want to enjoy the security and privacy that end-to-end encryption offers.
This creates a problem because not everyone uses the same messenger service, but that’s something that Google is hoping to address. The company has announced that they will be supporting Messaging Layer Security (MLS), which basically means that messages sent from iMessage users to RCS users will remain end-to-end encrypted.
“By ensuring a uniformly high security and privacy bar that users can trust, MLS will unleash a huge field of new opportunities for the users and developers of interoperable messaging services that adopt it. This is why we intend to build MLS into Google Messages and support its wide deployment across the industry by open sourcing our implementation in the Android codebase.”
That being said, Apple’s iPhones have yet to support/adopt RCS. This is largely because iMessage is being viewed as an exclusive feature and Apple is banking on it to a certain extent to attract users to hop on board the iOS bandwagon. Google has long campaigned for Apple to support RCS but we’re not sure that will happen anytime soon.
Source: Google