Google is testing end-to-end encryption for group chats in messaging app

Internet tech giant Google is testing end-to-end encryption for RCS-based group chats on its Messages app. The RCS stands for Rich Communication Services. The company noted that in the coming weeks it will be rolling out this feature to select users that are part of the app’s open beta program.

According to Google, with this feature, the one-on-one texts sent through Google Messages will become more secure and private because of the end-to-end encryption and such messages could only be seen by the sender and recipient of the message. “RCS does not only make texting more secure, but it also makes the experience better,” Google said in the blog post.

“SMS texting lacks a lot of what smartphones are capable of doing, but RCS means you can send and receive high-quality photos and videos, see real-time typing indicators and read receipts, name group conversations, add or remove contacts from group chats, and text over Wi-Fi…this list goes on,” it added.

Google has been urging manufacturers and carriers to use RCS, a supercharged version of SMS that includes features such as typing indicators, delivery, and read receipts.

It 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 a blog post.

Meanwhile, Google is also testing more emoji reactions for RCS chats and SMS texts on its Messages app. Currently, it only has thumbs up, heart eyes, laughing, shock, crying, and anger emoji. However, Google will be adding more emojis similar to WhatsApp, Telegram, and Slack in the coming days.