1. Chat Topics: You can now set themes, including static color and gradient, for these types of chats. This to help you personalize and improve your conversations in end-to-end encrypted chats.
2. Custom chat emojis and reactions: You will now be able to send the full menu of emoji reactions and customize the quick reaction tray in this type of chat.
3. Group Profile Photos: You will be able to select group profile photos for conversations with a group of people.
4. Link preview: Before clicking on a link, you will be able to see what it is about.
5. Green dot: This to indicate that you are online and that people know that it is a good time to contact you. You can also turn this feature off if you want to increase your privacy.
6. Android Bubbles: This is a circle with the user’s photo that allows you to read messages and reply while using other apps.
According to Meta, these functions are designed “so that there is no negative impact on the infrastructure and the chat experience of the users.”
What is end-to-end encryption?
End-to-end encryption is like sending a letter in an envelope that is impossible to open for anyone other than the recipient. It does not matter if it is with a saw, a mallet, fire, the envelope does not open, protecting the information in the letter.
Furthermore, it is as if the information in that letter cannot be read by anyone other than the person for whom it was written. In any case, whoever managed to read it would have a distorted message when deciphering it.
In the real world this is not very possible to achieve, but in the digital world it is. These are end-to-end encrypted messages.
According to cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, this is “the act of applying encryption to messages on a device in such a way that only the device to which they are sent can decrypt it. The message travels from the sender to the recipient in encrypted form.
For example, data sent by SMS is not encrypted so, in theory, anyone could intercept it – although in practice special equipment is needed.
Another option is data-in-transit encryption, where messages are protected during transmission between sender and sender, but allow an intermediary link to view them, such as the server.
The main advantage of end-to-end encrypted messages is that they guarantee the integrity of your communication. However, something they still fail to do to protect privacy completely is that even though the message is hidden. the record of the day and time a message was received remains.
