A screenshot posted on the subreddit mentioned above shows that Google Message is trying to establish an E2EE connection in an RCS-enabled group. The feature is seemingly not fully ready yet, as the attempt failed. Instead of receiving an end-to-end encrypted message, group members received a note saying the message is encrypted, followed by the link to Google’s official support page for E2EE and a string of code similar to query parameters on URLs. This is likely because not everyone in the group has access to E2EE. Perhaps because members are using two different messaging apps. Along with Google Messages, this group also reportedly consists of people using Samsung Messages, which supports RCS too. But it’s now evident that Google is preparing for a wider rollout of E2EE for group chats in Messages. That has been revealed by the app’s Phenotype flags as well. Multiple users confirmed that E2EE for group chats is live in Google Messages for them. It seems Google has begun a limited public beta of the feature. But it’s unclear which version of Google Messages currently supports E2EE for group chats and if the change is rolling out via a server-side update or an update for the app itself. Either way, the company appears on track to roll out the feature by the end of this year, as it promised during the Google I/O 2022 a few months back.
Google is readying end-to-end encryption for group chats in its Messages app
Google has been working on E2EE support in Messages for more than two years now. The company first started beta testing the feature back in November 2020. It publicly rolled out E2EE for one-to-one conversations in June this year. The feature requires both parties to have an active internet connection and RCS enabled on their device. A lock icon in the “Chatting with” banner at the top, as well as on timestamps and the send button, indicates that the chat is end-to-end encrypted. The recent developments suggest Google is almost ready to bring E2EE to group chats as well. Many popular messaging apps already offer this feature, including WhatsApp. Google wouldn’t want to lag anymore. We will let you know as and when we have more information.
