Google announced that it is bringing end-to-end encryption for RCS in the Android Messages beta app. For those of you who don’t know, RCS (Rich Communication Services) is the next-gen of messaging standards and protocols.
FYI, the RCS feature was previously available for users in limited regions. And Google was working on expanding RCS feature in more regions.
Note that there are no special requirements in order to access RCS features. However, there are a few criteria that you need to keep in mind if you wish to use the RCS service.
The first thing is that you should make sure the other person with whom you are communicating should have Chat active in Android Messages.
Apart from expanding RCS, Google is also rolling out the end-to-end encryption feature. This makes it safer for you and your chat partner to chat via Android Messages app.
Google Messages encryption will land for beta testers, beginning this month
This feature is just like what you have with WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, or other encrypted chat apps. Via this feature, all the messages will be accessible to you and your chat partner only. And even Google won’t have access to them.
Google has not mentioned any specific date for the rollout of the end-to-end encryption feature. But the post mentions that it will be released for the beta testers beginning this month.
Google has been rolling out the RCS feature for users in different countries slowly since last year, via the stable channel. This feature allows for use of emojis, high-quality photo/video sharing, online status, and many other features.
End-to-end encryption will work only with one-to-one chats. Group chats would be exempted, at least for the time being.
For more information about these new features, you can head over to the official Google blog.