Apple’s current legal battle with the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been well documented, so it should come as no surprise that Apple is currently fighting the F.B.I when it comes to providing the bureau with Apple user information.

What might not be as well known is that other companies including Google have been working on user-friendly devices and apps that are far more encrypted than anything produced before. Here’s what some of those other companies are up to.

Encryption Is Important

Facebook, Google, and SnapChat are just a few companies that are working on developing apps and devices that are difficult to tap into. Before the Apple case even began, Facebook and Google (to name a few) had started to make apps and devices that have higher level encryption.

Various companies such as these feel that deeper encryption is necessary in order to ensure users that any device or app from these companies is as secure as possible.

Difficulties Prevail

The problem with high level encryption is that it’s often difficult to use. In the past, when companies attempted to make devices and apps more secure, users found those things hard to use. However, these companies are telling press currently that the new apps and devices are user-friendly, and that users have been taken into consideration before anything else.

Some of the apps that will soon have more encryption methods woven into the app structure are WhatsApp and SnapChat. WhatsApp is currently used by millions of people around the world, so Facebook (parent company of WhatsApp) is making extra sure that the chat service will be very difficult to tap into by anyone including government officials.

Within the next few weeks, WhatsApp will include voice messages that are highly encrypted - this is a first for the company.

A Split Public

Recent polls have shown that the public is largely split over whether or not encryption methods should be legal. For some, it’s important that the government (and others) cannot tap into anything from a device to an app. To others, the mere fact that terrorists currently and regularly use apps such as WhatsApp to formulate terror plots is proof enough that government access to devices and apps should be widely available.

So while most users want a device or app that is entirely and truly private, it’s a misconception that the public at large completely agrees that encryption should keep the law out. Regardless, companies such as Facebook, Apple, and Google are working to make both devices and apps harder to crack.

How You Are Impacted

What this means to the general app or device user is that apps such as WhatsApp and SnapChat will start to come with deeper encryption methods in just a few weeks, and any new device put out by the aforementioned companies will include much more than an access password.

Companies that are moving forward with tougher encryption methods want to show the public that these methods are not just marketing tactics but are actually necessary. Make sure to update your apps within the next few weeks to see what new encryption methods exist.