iOS 16.6 Beta Lays Groundwork for iMessage Contact Key Verification
The iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6 betas that Apple released today appear to include iMessage Contact Key Verification, though it is not yet clear if the feature is functional in the first beta.
There is an iMessage Contact Key Verification setting available in the Settings app, but tapping it does not appear to activate any actual feature. It may require additional settings to be on such as Security Keys, or it may not yet be fully implemented.
Announced late last year, iMessage Contact Key Verification is designed for Apple users who are facing "extraordinary digital threats." Apple intends for iMessage Contact Key Verification to be used by journalists, human rights activists, government officials, and others who are in danger of malicious digital attacks from state-sponsored attackers or other malicious actors.
iMessage Contact Key Verification lets Apple device owners verify that they are messaging with the people they intend to message rather than a malicious entity that has intercepted a message or is eavesdropping on a conversation. In a conversation between two or more people who have enabled iMessage Contact Key Verification, Apple will send an alert if the cloud servers are ever breached and a conversation is vulnerable to an intrusion.
Users who enable this feature can also compare a Contact Verification Code in person, on FaceTime, or through another secure app to further verify their identity and who they are communicating with.
Apple said that iMessage Contact Key Verification would be available on the iPhone and other Apple devices at some point in 2023, and it is one of the last features we are expecting to see in iOS 16.
iMessage Contact Key Verification was initially announced alongside Security Keys for Apple ID, a feature that was enabled in iOS 16.3.
(Thanks, Steve Moser!)
Popular Stories
Apple is expected to announce iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, and new features have already been rumored for many apps, including Apple Music, Apple Maps, Calculator, Messages, Notes, Safari, and others. Below, we recap iOS 18 rumors on a per-app basis, based on reports from MacRumors, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, and others: Apple Maps: At least two new Apple Maps features are...
With the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch approaching, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at an interesting bit of Apple Watch history. After the Apple Watch was announced in 2014, and before it became available in 2015, Apple sent out custom Apple Watch iPad demo kiosks to retail stores. The Apple Watch and iPad units used for these devices were specially designed, had custom ...
Apple is holding at least five announcements for later in the year that will not arrive at the company's "Let loose" special event next week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In a report detailing his expectations for Apple's upcoming event, Gurman noted that there are a total of five things that the company is holding for later in the year: AI features: While Apple may tease new...
During today's earnings call covering the second fiscal quarter of 2024, Apple CEO Tim Cook again spoke about Apple's work on generative AI. He said that Apple has "advantages" that will "differentiate" the company in the era of AI, and some "very exciting things" will be shared with customers in the near future. We continue to feel very bullish about our opportunity in generative AI. We are ...
While Apple's upcoming iPad Pro models have been expected to feature the M3 chip for over a year, recent reports have unexpectedly suggested that the new devices will instead feature the as-yet-unannounced M4 chip. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Last week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that he now believes there is a "strong possibility" that the upcoming iPad Pro ...
Top Rated Comments