Facebook began rolling out its encrypted chat feature to Messenger in 2016. Six years later, this feature is finally available to everyone. Actually two modes are offered: ad hoc mode as well as private mode.
These two modes are not offered by default. This could happen in 2023, but for now you’ll have to enable it yourself. This is through the mobile application. If it is simple to use, it is camouflaged well enough that the user can miss it. Here’s how to do it on Android. It needs to be enabled similarly on iOS.
What is ad-hoc mode, how to enable it?
The first solution Meta offers to protect your conversation is ad-hoc mode. As the name suggests, it allows you to have a discussion that fades away after a while. When the speech bubble is closed, messages disappear.
Of course this is about text messages, but also gifs, photos and videos. If your interlocutor has the idea to take a screenshot, this will be mentioned in the conversation, just like in Snapchat. Same thing for saving images. Here’s how to enable short mode.
- Open Messenger on Android
- Select a conversation
- “Pull” the screen up for a second (a text appears informing you that you have activated this mode)
- Chat without worrying about leaving a trace.
To disable this mode, simply press the “disable temporary mode” tab that is constantly displayed during the call. As mentioned above, all messages are deleted when the bubble is closed.
How to enable encrypted conversations
The other mode also protects your chats but works differently. In fact, for optimum security, it is possible to encrypt your conversations before messages are lost. Again, this is a simple thing to enable and screenshots will be reported. Voice and video calls are also protected.
- open messenger
- In the main menu (the menu with all your contacts), tap the little pencil in the top right
- A new menu will then open.
- Always activate the tab with the little padlock located in the top right corner of your screen
- The next conversation you initiate will be encrypted
Note that this method opens a new conversation. If you activate it with a person you already communicate with, two debates will go together then: one protected (marked with a padlock) and the other unprotected. You also have to repeat the process every time you want to start a new encrypted conversation.
Here are the two methods that Meta offers to the public today. Since January 28 is European Data Protection Day, this day was not chosen randomly by the Californian company. Meta (formerly Facebook) has long been criticized It’s about how it manages its users’ data. These new features should reassure Messenger users, but for now there is no guarantee that our private conversations are truly safe thanks to this new mode.
