Meta is making things a lot more interesting for Messenger users, by introducing loads of new customisation options for end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) chats. You can now add themes, custom emojis, reactions, group profile photos, and more to your so-called "secret conversations". That's right, no more plain white backgrounds in encrypted Messenger chats. Here's everything you need to know.
What's new with encrypted chats on Messenger?
- Chat themes:
- Custom chat emojis and reactions
- Group profile photos
- Link previews
- Active Status
Meta is introducing a bunch of new features for end-to-end encrypted chats on its Messenger platform, including the ability to use themes, make custom emojis, use reactions, add group profile photos, and more. This means you can now make your secret conversations look a bit more interesting, and crucially, more like your normal Messenger chats. Before this update, Messenger didn't offer any way to personalise E2EE chats. As soon as you switched to a secret conversation, all customisation options disappeared. You simply had a plain white background. It wasn't great.
But now, you can set themes, including static colour and gradient ones, to make your E2EE chats look less plain. You'll also have access to the full range of emoji reactions that you typically see in normal Messenger chats - plus the ability to customise the quick reaction tray. You can set group profile photos and see link previews that show you more information about a webpage shared with you.
If you're using Messenger on Android, you can also use the "bubbles" feature for secret conversations, so you can have quick access to an active encrypted chat when you're in other apps. Finally, all encrypted chats on Messenger now have the ability to show active status. This lets people see when you’re active, so they know when it’s a good time to call. But you can choose to turn this feature off.
How to start a secret conversation (encrypted chat) in Messenger
To start an end-to-end encrypted chat in the Messenger app, you need to initiate a secret conversation. Here's how it all works:
- Open the Facebook Messenger app on your mobile device.
- Select the person or chat thread you want to encrypt.
- Tap on the contact's name at the top of the chat.
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Select “Secret Conversation” from the menu.
- A pop-up will appear, asking you to confirm your choice.
- Select “OK” to enable end-to-end encryption for this chat.
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Once enabled, a padlock icon will appear next to the contact’s name.
- This indicates that the chat is now end-to-end encrypted.
Note: To verify the encryption, you can compare the device keys with your chat contact. Just tap on the padlock icon and select “Device Keys”, and then compare the key with them.
Does Messenger offer encryption by default?
Currently, you need to jump into a secret conversation buried in the Messenger app to initiate an encrypted chat, and the feature is only available for one-on-one conversations - not for group chats.
Meta has said it's looking to roll out E2EE by default, and it's even expanding testing, but the whole process is taking a while. Meta last said it was on track to roll out default E2EE in 2023. "Over the coming months, millions of people around the world will see some of their individual threads become end-to-end encrypted", the company explained in a blog post.
Why do you need encrypted chats?
Pocket-lint has an entire explainer on how Messenger's end-to-end encrypted chats work, but the summary is: E2EE chats on Messenger are designed to make your chats more private, by hiding your online conversation from third parties, including Facebook itself. It also makes it more difficult for law enforcement and hackers to access the messages you're sending and receiving in an E2EE chat.
So if you want to ensure your conversation is private, Meta's hoping you'll use its end-to-end encrypted chat feature in Messenger.
Do other Meta apps like WhatsApp or Instagram have encrypted chats?
Yes. WhatsApp has end-to-end encrypted by default. And on Instagram, you can switch on E2EE for individual chats.
When can you expect to see Messenger's new encrypted chat features?
Meta only said it was "introducing" the new features, indicating they may be rolling out and haven't hit all users just yet. Pocket-lint has not received the update yet that adds all the new customisations.