Google recently announced that RCS (Rich Communication Services) messages on Google Messages will now be fully encrypted end-to-end by default.
Google Messages RCS Conversations
In addition to messages on Google Messages, the company revealed that RCS group chats on its messaging app are now end-to-end encrypted too.
RCS is a messaging protocol. In addition to the encryption, it offers a good number of improvements over the current SMS standard. Among these include typing indicators, read receipts, and being able to share photos and videos.
With this new change, messages will now be private from Google and the respective carriers, adding a very welcome layer of security to its messages. In comparison, Apple has had end-to-end encryption to iMessages for a while now.
Do note though, that the encryption is only for RCS messages. This means that texts between an iPhone and an Android device aren’t end-to-end encrypted. So if you want to enjoy end-to-end encryption between the two devices, you’ll have to use a third-party messaging app like WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram.
Google also clarified that RCS is now enabled by default for Google Messages. However, you can always turn it off by going into settings at any time.
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