Overview#
IMessage is an Instant Messaging service by Apple and is supported by the Messages application in iOS 5 and later[1] and OSX Mountain Lion and later.IMessage Messages are encrypted using TLS and can be tracked using delivery receipts.
IMessage, when sending to another user using IMessage is End-to-end Encryption using keys not available to Apple.
IMessage protocol is based on the Apple Push Notification service (APNs)—a proprietary, binary protocol. IMessage sets up a Keep-Alive connection with the Apple servers. Every connection has its own unique code, which acts as an identifier for the route that should be used to send a message to a specific device. The connection is encrypted with TLS using a Client-side certificate, that is requested by the device on the activation of IMessage.