Support our independent tech coverage. Chrome Unboxed is written by real people, for real people—not search algorithms. Join Chrome Unboxed Plus for just $2 a month to get an ad-free experience, access to our private Discord, and more. Learn more about membership here.
START FREE TRIAL (MONTHLY)START FREE TRIAL (ANNUAL)
According to a discovery by Android Police and a handful of avid Google Messages users, RCS group chats may finally be getting end-to-end encryption in the tech giant’s messaging application for Android. For those unfamiliar, end-to-end encryption, or E2E for short, is basically a fancy way of saying that your messages are super secure because only you and the person you’re chatting with can read their contents.
Any hackers or third parties that try to intercept your messages can’t snoop through them or steal your sensitive information because the lockbox containing the chats in transit can only be opened by you or the recipient using special encryption keys. Hence, they’re encrypted…end to end.
Now, Google Messages has had E2E encryption for one-to-one chats for a while now, but this latest development means that you’ll soon be able to enjoy the same level of security in your RCS group chats too!
This feature isn’t widely available just yet, but it should be rolling out to users pretty soon as many Twitter users and others alike have seen it pop up for them already. Even with the latest version of Google Messages installed, it seems individuals are having mixed results, so it could be a server-side update. Once you get it, you can check to see if your group chats are encrypted by checking the chat details section.
SUBSCRIBE TO UPSTREAM
Get Chrome Unboxed delivered straight to your inbox
Upstream is our flagship, curated newsletter with the top stories, most click-worthy deals, giveaways, and trending articles from Chrome Unboxed sent directly to your inbox a few times a week. Join 31,000+ subscribers.
