Maria Diaz/ZDNETApple joined the RCS bandwagon last year, giving its users the ability to exchange rich text messages with their Android counterparts. The only problem? Those messages are not encrypted, exposing them to security risks. Now, Apple will soon eliminate that obstacle. Also: Google Fi users finally get RCS on iPhone – here’s how to check if it’s activatedIn a new announcement, Apple said it will add support for encrypted RCS messages in future updates to iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, and WatchOS. This means that any rich text messages exchanged between Apple and Android users will automatically be secured through the latest industry standard. RCS with E2EEThat industry standard comes from the GSM Association, which announced on Friday new specifications for RCS that include end-to-end encryption (E2EE). Thanks to the new standard, RCS will be the first major messaging format to support this type of encryption among different providers, including Apple and Google. The latest standard is based on a protocol known as Messaging Layer Security (MLS). With MLS in place, RCS messages and their rich content remain confidential and secure as they’re routed from one device to another. By adding other security features such as SIM-based authentication, the end-to-end encryption will help keep RCS messages private, protecting people from scams, fraud, and other threats, the GSMA said.Also: How to send RCS messages from your iPhone to your Android user friends”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 said in a statement shared with The Verge and other media outlets. “We will add support for end-to-end encrypted RCS messages to iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, and WatchOS in future software updates.” More