* Apple’s promising to add more security to its message service with iOS 11 update
* Every text you send and receive will be synced to your iPhone, Mac and iPad
* Exact details regarding the security protocols are still forthcoming
When Apple launched its iMessage service back in 2011, it was among the first messengers to add end-to-end encryption to every text. Encrypting your messages scrambles it in a way so that only the sender and receiver can read them. Hackers can’t intercept them, and Apple has no way to decode them.
Unfortunately, though the encryption settings were there, the process was said to be faulty due to Apple’s insistence on having users store everything in the cloud. When you back up your texts on the iCloud platform, you essentially make a copy of your data. The service is still encrypted, but Apple has the key.
Now, Apple has announced plans to add even more encryption to your devices. Starting with the iOS 11 update, Apple will generate private encryption keys for all iCloud data. They’ve also announced plans to automatically sync every iMessage to your iPhone, iPad and Mac.
In a video interview, Apple Senior Vice President Craig Federighi promised the automatic syncing and storing will remain private, stating:
“Our security and encryption team has been doing work over a number of years now to be able to synchronize information across your, what we call your circle of devices — all those devices that are associated with the common account — in a way that they each generate and share keys with each other that Apple does not have.”
While exact details are still unknown, Apple is expected to release a statement closer to the iOS 11 release date.
