Google has slowly been rolling out their new chat features in Messages that is based on the open Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard over the past year now. They have finally finished the rollout globally and also has begun beta testing new features in the app such as end-to-end encryption.
RCS is Google’s latest and most thought out attempt at building a competitor to Apple’s iMessage ecosystem for Android. With RCS, users on Messenger can send and receive better quality photos and videos, chat over Wi-Fi or data, know when your message is read and share reactions. Groups chats have been improved, with the ability to name groups, add and remove people to and from groups.
Google is also testing new security features for Messages. End-to-end encryption is something they are currently testing in beta, starting with one on one RCS conversations in Messages. Google expects the feature to roll out to everyone next year once the beta testing is over.