Google Messages now supports end-to-end encrypted group chats for 100 people

Google has been working for a while to make its group chats more secure in its RCS Messages app and to do this it has rolled out end-to-end encryption which is currently rolling out for the beta version. While this was a good initiative for group chats, there was a problem that no more than 21 people were added to the group at a time. It looks like Google has caught on and is increasing the group limit to 100 people. End-to-end encrypted group chats for 100 people will; further securing communications that take place in large groups and meetings.

So from now on, this group limit corresponds to the limit of 100 participants on RCS group chat, which means that by adding more people to the group, one does not have to worry about whether the group chat is encrypted or not. This is somewhat similar to iMessages current limit of 32 people maximum for end-to-end encrypted support.

End-to-end encrypted group chats for 100 people in beta

This new change was found and announced by a twitter user @SeeAreEff. Before this feature was launched, when users added more than 20 people to the group, including themselves, the lock icon on the send button disappeared, meaning the chat was not end-to-end encrypted.

However, if you’re now relieved with E2EE, even adding more people to the group, it should be mentioned here that encryption in group chats is still in beta and can only be used if you’re using the beta version of Google’s Messages app.

At the moment, it is not known when this feature will pass the test and reach a stable status to reach as a regular version for everyone.

For those thinking how to check whether or not your group chat is encrypted, this can be done by tapping on the group name at the top of the chat and checking the group details. A special section for this purpose will let you know if the group conversation is safe or not.

Read also: Skype introduces end-to-end encrypted texts and voice