Request Media Kit

Google Messages Encrypted RCS Group Chats Exiting Beta

Google Messages encrypted group chats are finally exiting beta, adding an important security feature for Android users....
Google Messages Encrypted RCS Group Chats Exiting Beta
Written by Staff
  • Google Messages encrypted group chats are finally exiting beta, adding an important security feature for Android users.

    RCS is the successor to SMS messages and offers similar functionality as Apple’s iMessage. Despite having end-to-end encryption (E2EE) in individual chats for some time, E2EE was noticeably absent in group chats. Google began testing the feature in beta in December, but it appears it’s finally going mainstream.

    According to Android reporter Mishaal Rahman, the feature is showing up in the latest stable release of Google Messages:

    Read More: Google Is Turning the Tables on Apple’s iMessage

    The news is a welcome improvement for Android users, bringing Messages that much closer to feature parity with Apple’s iMessage. Unfortunately, there’s still no support for RCS in iMessage, so texts between iPhones and Android devices fall back to the older, limited, less secure SMS.

    Google has been trying to get Apple to support RCS as a fallback protocol. The move would have no impact on Apple-to-Apple communication and would only come into play in cross-platform situations. Unfortunately, Apple has shown no interest in adopting the protocol, saying users should ‘buy an iPhone.’

    Get the WebProNews newsletter delivered to your inbox

    Get the free daily newsletter read by decision makers

    Subscribe
    Advertise with Us

    Ready to get started?

    Get our media kit