Google starts rolling out end-to-end encryption for group chats
Google has also launched campaigns to convince Apple to adopt this standard for its own Messages app.
By ET Online | Updated:
Agencies
Tech giant Google has announced that soon it will start rolling out end-to-end encrypted RCS (Rich Communication Services) chats to the Google Messages, which will be made available to users over the coming weeks.
The upcoming update will prove to be a big upgrade for encrypting one-on-one conversations on Google as most of the content shared on chats will be hard to read by carriers or even the tech giant itself.
In a blog post, Google on Friday said that the feature will be available for a few users in the open beta program over the coming weeks, while also adding that the search giant will soon let users use any emoji when reacting to an RCS message.
Google said that RCS enables end-to-end encryption, which SMS does not. "This means that all one-on-one texts sent using Messages by Google, are encrypted, so they're private and safe and can only be seen by the sender and the recipient," Google said.
The new update will let users send and receive high-quality photos and videos, see real-time typing indicators and read receipts, name group conversation and or remove contacts from group chats, and also text over Wi-Fi.
"Today, all of the major mobile carriers and manufacturers have adopted RCS as the standard -- except for Apple. Apple refuses to adopt RCS and continues to rely on SMS when people with iPhones message people with Android phones, which means their texting is stuck in the 1990s," Neena Budhiraja, group product manager for the Messages app, said in the blogpost.
"Hopefully, Apple can #GetTheMessage so we don't have to keep waiting to remove the whole acegreen-versus-blue bubble" thing," it added.
The upcoming update will prove to be a big upgrade for encrypting one-on-one conversations on Google as most of the content shared on chats will be hard to read by carriers or even the tech giant itself.
In a blog post, Google on Friday said that the feature will be available for a few users in the open beta program over the coming weeks, while also adding that the search giant will soon let users use any emoji when reacting to an RCS message.
Google said that RCS enables end-to-end encryption, which SMS does not. "This means that all one-on-one texts sent using Messages by Google, are encrypted, so they're private and safe and can only be seen by the sender and the recipient," Google said.
The new update will let users send and receive high-quality photos and videos, see real-time typing indicators and read receipts, name group conversation and or remove contacts from group chats, and also text over Wi-Fi.
There is much buzz in the tech world about the Xiaomi 13 which is slated to launch by the year-end. As part of the Xiaomi 13 series, the Chinese smartphone major is likely to unveil two models - the vanilla Xiaomi 13 and the Xiaomi 13 Pro. And while there is no official word out yet, here is a snapshot of some of the expected features doing the rounds on tech sites.
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Google has also launched campaigns to convince Apple to adopt this standard for its own Messages app."Today, all of the major mobile carriers and manufacturers have adopted RCS as the standard -- except for Apple. Apple refuses to adopt RCS and continues to rely on SMS when people with iPhones message people with Android phones, which means their texting is stuck in the 1990s," Neena Budhiraja, group product manager for the Messages app, said in the blogpost.
"Hopefully, Apple can #GetTheMessage so we don't have to keep waiting to remove the whole acegreen-versus-blue bubble" thing," it added.
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