Google Messages starts showing end-to-end encryption for RCS group chats out of beta

Ben Schoon | Apr 20 2023 - 6:48 am PT

RCS has grown significantly over the past few years, but one gaping hole in the product was support for end-to-end encryption. Now, after a few months of testing, Google appears to be rolling out, or at least testing, end-to-end encryption for RCS group chats in stable Google Messages updates.

In 2021, Google added support for end-to-end encryption in RCS chats on Google Messages, but support was limited only to individual conversations. This left group chats unencrypted, in contrast to other messaging apps as well as Apple’s iMessage service, which had long offered encryption for group chats.

Then, in mid-2022, Google confirmed plans to bring encryption to RCS group chats, and fulfilled on that promise in early January of this year with a rollout in beta. Now, it appears that Google Messages is rolling out support for end-to-end encryption on RCS group chats to users of the stable version of the app.

The latest version of Google Messages in the stable release track is “messages.android_20230329_00_RC01.phone_dynamic” as seen in the app’s “Version Info.” Some users on that version report seeing support for end-to-end encryption with this update. This was noted by multiple Twitter users who are seeing end-to-end encryption active. It doesn’t appear to be particularly widely available though. In checking two devices, one was still on a prior update, and the other on this latest update still didn’t support E2E encryption in group chats. The folks over at Android Police did find the feature working on their end, though.

At this point, it seems that Google may have started rolling out end-to-end encryption to RCS group chats in Messages for stable users, but not for everyone just yet.

If you’re using the stable version of Messages on your device, let us know in the comments below if you’re seeing encryption on group chats. You can see if encryption is enabled by opening a group chat, checking the chat details, and looking for end-to-end encryption being marked as “on.”