Google plans to test end-to-end encryption in Android messages

For the past year and a half,

Google

has been rolling out its next-generation messaging to Android users

to replace the old, clunky, and insecure SMS text messaging. Now the company says that rollout is complete, and plans to bring end-to-end encryption to Android

messages next year.

Google’s

Rich Communications Services

is Android’s answer to Apple’s iMessage, and brings typing indicators, read receipts, and you’d expect from most messaging apps these days.

In a

blog post

Thursday, Google said it plans to roll out end-to-end encryption — starting with one-on-one conversations — leaving open the possibility of end-to-end encrypted group chats. It’ll become available to beta testers, who can sign up here

, beginning later in November and continue into the new year.

End-to-end encryption prevents anyone — even Google — from reading messages as they travel between sender and the recipient.

Google dipped its toes into the end-to-end encrypted messaging space in 2016 with the launch of Allo, an app that immediately drew criticism from security experts for

not enabling

the security feature by default. Two years later, Google killed off

the project altogether.

This time around, Google learned its lesson. Android messages will default to end-to-end encryption once the feature becomes available, and won’t revert back to

SMS

unless the users in the conversation loses or disables RCS.

Messaging app Go SMS Pro exposed millions of users’ private photos and files