How to Encrypt Your Messages on iPhone
On the off chance that you need to send messages without stressing that others may be reading the texts you're sending, you ought to utilize an encrypted messaging tool.
There will never be a genuine assurance that what you're sending to people won't be seen by third parties. Often our own mix-ups can create exploits that leave vulnerable, yet using encoded messages is a step is always a good idea. It's another layer of protection for your correspondence.
In case you're new, encryption can scramble the contents of a message into irregular data until it's received at the other end and it is assembled into something coherent once again. So, in the event that someone other than the intended recipient gets the message - a hacker for instance – it's simply scrambled characters and symbols for the most part.
However, you need to remember this doesn't protect your messages from being viewed when your device is left unattended or if someone gains access to the other recipient's phone.
Now that we've established that encryption is almost a must-have let's explain how you can encode your messages.
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How to encryp messages on iPhone with iMessage
If you're an iPhone user and you're messaging someone who also owns an iPhone, your messages are already going to be secure because of the encryption keys Apple already keeps in iMessage. However, this doesn't apply if you are sending normal messages (the green bubble text messages) to another device that isn't an iPhone. Only the blue bubble messages between iPhones, iPads, and Macs are protected by Apple's encryption. iMessage one of the better-encrypted apps because it supports third-party apps as well as the option to pay people with Apple Pay Cash, Animoji, and other payment services.
Use Signal to enrypt messages
Another option for both Android and iPhone is Signal. It's available on iPhone and Android both and it's a very streamlined and simple to use the app. All you have to do is download the app and register your phone number. On Android devices, you can make it the default messaging app if you want to. However, just like with iMessage, your messages will only be encrypted if both you and the recipient are using Signal. If you send a message to someone using a different app, Signal will prompt you to invite that person to use the app.
Also, Signal also features extra security options like the ability to block someone from taking screenshots of the conversation, disabling keyloggers (keyboards that record what you type), an option to require a password to open the app, a feature to make messages disappear after 5 seconds, which is really useful if you're afraid of someone going through your iPhone.
And one more thing, Signal has a "safety" number, which you can use to compare with the person you're chatting to make sure that the conversation is secure.
You can encrypt messages with WhatsApp too
WhatsApp is another app that works well for the iPhone. Just like with the iMessage app, WhatsApp also has sophisticated end-to-end encryption, which should keep the contents of your texts safe from anyone outside the WhatsApp conversation. On paper, at least.
If you decide to use WhatsApp you don't need to modify any settings either because encryption is enabled by default. Also, the app doesn't save any of your messages on its servers, unlike Facebook Messenger, for example. This means your messages are stored locally (on your phone). WhatsApp also sports a web interface, meaning you can use it from a web browser on your PC/Mac too.
