cross-posted from: https://kbin.projectsegfau.lt/m/[email protected]/t/26889
Google just announced that all RCS conversations in Messages are now fully end-to-end encrypted, even in group chats. RCS stands for Rich Communication Services and is replacing traditional text and picture messaging, providing you with more dynamic and secure features. With RCS enabled, you can share high-res photos and videos, see typing indicators for your…
Fun fact, a group I knew in uni made an end to end encryption program that sent messages through Google more than a decade ago and Google got really, really mad at them threatening to shut down all Google accounts associated with all IP addresses they used.
Guarantee it’s not fully E2E.
It’s E2E, E2E isn’t really something you can be sneaky about unless you roll your own encryption and then make claims about it totally being safe bro
They, however, run the app you are using to type everything, the keyboard you are using to type everything and the os you are using to type everything. If they want something, they don’t need to look at your in flight messages.
The trust doesn’t even have to be in the encryption, they could very well use the same signal protocol. They would only need a copy of the keys you are using and you wouldn’t even know… That’s the problem with closed source programs, there is no certainty that its not happening (and I’m not saying it is, I can’t prove it, obviously, but the doubt remains, we need to trust these companies not to screw us over and they don’t really have the best track record in that…)
It’s E2E, E2E isn’t really something you can be sneaky about unless you roll your own encryption and then make claims about it totally being safe bro
With a closed source app? Of course you can. How is anyone supposed to know what keys you use for encryption? Doesn’t even need to be a remote one - just the key generation be reproducible by the developer.
I know they have unencrypted versions from my phone because my tablet and desktop version of messages seamlessly connects to the chat. So it’s probably be E2E in transit alone.
Sent messages “through Google”? Like Chat? Email? That’s such an ambiguous statement.
E2EE has been a available approaching three years now. I’d imagine if they were lying and defrauding the population, someone would have found out by now. This announcement is just that it’s on by default for everyone.
Hangouts.
It doesn’t matter if it’s E2E or not when Google can spy on you directly on the phones at either end.
Reminds me how much I hate Apple.
Thanks Google for making Android.
Now please turn the evil knob down a notch and go back being the awesome company you once where.
The fuck does this have to do with Apple?
Doesn’t really explain what google enabling E2E on RCA has to do with Apple
He’s talking about RCS in general. Apple won’t implement it as it’s a huge threat to iMessage which is a service that keeps a lot of the US users buying their phones.
I feel like Google has everything to gain and apple has more to lose by implementing this. It’s not good guy Google, bad guy Apple. It’s a business decision. I say this as an Apple hater.
If the shoe was on the other foot Google would be doing the same thing.
Google tracks you everywhere you go all over the internet. Like 90% of websites have a script that calls home to Google to let them know you visited. That’s their business model.
Using Signal since a few years. Don’t know anything about security but from a user perspective, I can highly recommend it. Takes some time converting your friends but after that it does its thing.
But that doesn’t help with sms or rcs. I wish there was an rcs client that was not made by Google
As far as I know Google doesn’t allow third party apps to plug into RCS.
This is why them bashing Apple for this particular issue always seemed hypocritical to me, they want this to be their own closed ecosystem, with Apple being the exception because they have enough clout to actually go it alone or even take users away from Android.
Ideally you’d have apps like Signal plugging into the same end-to-end encryption for interoperability, but Google won’t allow that because they just want people to use Google Messages for RCS, and nothing else.
In my experience some friends are unconvertable, and at that point group chats with those friends just end up in the same place as before.
I have some friends like that, but am currently in the process of making the switch over to signal from Snapchat. The key is once you have a critical mass of people in the group they switch over lmao
Also whenever you make a new gc, for example to plan something, you make it in signal and send them the invite link lol
Best thing about RCS is when random strangers text me, or friends friends, our conversations are E2EE because RCS isn’t something you need to download.
I always have issues with people not receiving messages on it 😭
Definitely happy that this is happening, good on them. However in practice since most of my friends are on iOS I’m still reduced to SMS/MMS and a terrible user experience
My entire universe uses whatsapp exclusively 🤮 and I refuse.
There’s an app currently in beta called Beeper that aggregates a bunch of chat apps into one and also lets Android users connect to iMessage using an Apple ID. Highly recommend getting on the wait-list for it, the app has been great and the team working on it are very responsive and transparent.
Unfortunately RCS support is still in active development so anyone using it may not want to connect their number yet (unless they’re cool with SMS’ing with other Androids).
Kinda wary to switch in case it turns up in the Google Graveyard.
Fortunately I think this is one of the ones that will stay around.
This is cool and all but one feature I’d love to see is search functionality actually working
You bet it’s end to end and encrypted with my key and your key and our friends key the CIA’s key… Wait, what?
/s… I hope
The fuck is google messages? Is this what replaced hangouts?
Hilarious assumption, but nope. It’s just the default sms app on google phones.
It’s the default SMS application on Pixel devices.
On many devices, actually. Over 34 OEMs. https://jibe.google.com/partners/oems/
Still won’t be using it. Sworry!
More like, sworry not sworry. Am I right?
I think this is the first feature RCS provides which I want.
Do you know what RCS all provides? because it provides a LOT of great features. I mean the biggest one is 105MB file sizes. I guess you can stick with your carrier limited MMS, which is usually set to 300KB. Or maybe you can pay for Discord Nitro to send more than 8MB files? How about Snapchat which is limited to 60 seconds video files? Perhaps Telegram, that limits your upload speed to a snail pace unless you buy Telegram Premium?
I haven’t attempted to send a file via txt in almost 20 years. They’re txt messages. I also don’t use discord nitro, snapchat, or telegram. I’ve used all those serv
