Meta (the band formerly known as Facebook) just announced a heap of new encryption features for its Messenger chatting service. While Facebook isn't a name that's often associated with privacy, that's something people expect of their messaging apps in 2022. Whether it's iMessage, WhatsApp, Signal, or anything else, all of these services are recognized for offering safe and secure messaging — primarily thanks to end-to-end encryption.
This is something that Facebook Messenger has had since 2016, but its implementation leaves a lot to be desired. Not only do users need to manually enable end-to-end encryption (it's not turned on by default), but doing so removes many of Messenger's most basic features. Now, in an attempt to retain expected functionality while still preserving top-end security, Messenger's getting a few big updates that have been a long time coming.
On January 27, Meta announced some big changes for how encrypted conversations work on Messenger. Perhaps most important for some users, Messenger can now encrypt group chats and video/voice calls. This is something Meta's been testing since last year, but the functionality's now rolling out to everyone. These aren't groundbreaking features compared to what Messenger's competition offers, but it's a welcome update regardless.
More New Features For Encryption Chats In Messenger
But that's not all Meta has for Messenger. Also new is the ability for users to send GIFs, stickers, and message reactions in their encrypted chats. These are things 'normal' Messenger conversations have had for a while, but up until now, they've been missing from encrypted ones. They all work exactly as you'd expect. Tap the smiley face icon in the compose box to find a sticker or GIF you want to send. To send a reaction, tap and hold on a message and choose from one of the six emoji reactions available.
Something else to keep an eye out for is 'screenshot notifications.' If someone takes a screenshot of an encrypted conversation in Messenger, the other person gets a notification alerting them to it. It's something Meta's offered since November with Messenger's 'vanish mode,' but now it's also present in encrypted chats. Rounding out the new features are typing indicators, message forwarding, a built-in video editor, and the option to save photos/videos by long-pressing them.
While it's great to see Meta bring so much functionality to encrypted chats, it is pretty astounding that none of these things have been available since encrypted conversations launched in 2016. It is better late than never, but it also means Meta still has an uphill battle for making Messenger a trusted platform for secure messaging — especially since default encryption still isn't expected until at least 2023.
Source: Meta