why is there a lock symbol on my text
Are you texting somebody on your Android phone, and see a lock message within or virtually the chat thread?
This can be confusing to come across, especially if it just happened recently for the outset fourth dimension, or you aren't certain what it ways.
Thankfully, it's not something to worry well-nigh, and in that location'due south actually an interesting explanation for it!
In this article, I'll be going over what the lock icon actually means, and how you can disable it if you want to.
What Does The Lock Symbol Hateful On My Text Letters?
If you lot see a lock icon on your letters, this typically means that the letters are sent via finish-to-end encryption.
This is a new feature introduced in June 2021 for Android phones (similar the Google Pixel) that increases the security of messages, ensuring that they cannot exist intercepted in transit, or read by others.
Notation yet that this feature only works when…
- You have a telephone that offers RCS, which stands for 'rich advice services.' RCS is meant to replace the traditional SMS that'south been used for decades, and offers many upgrades and improvements over traditional SMS.
- The other person that y'all're sending a bulletin to also has an Android phone with RCS enabled.
This is why yous may just see the lock icon when talking with certain people, for instance.
Essentially, the RCS encryption characteristic exists to better the security of messages, similar to Apple's iMessage. Hence, the lock icon is in that location to show y'all when it's enabled for a specific conversation.
What Does Encryption Hateful, Anyway?
The discussion 'encryption' is thrown around a lot when it comes to modern tech, especially when discussing matters related to security.
But what does it really mean?
Substantially, it is a tool that can be used to obfuscate data, so information technology cannot be read.
Imagine that you lot had a undercover language, that only you lot and the other person yous're talking to understood. If someone else were to peek in and spy on your conversation, they wouldn't be able to understand what was actually being said – fifty-fifty if they could read the contents.
When an encrypted message is sent, the information is jumbled up so it cannot be read or understood by whatever third-political party – even your cellular provider. And then, the person receiving the bulletin uses a 'central' stored on their device to decrypt the bulletin, assuasive them to read it as normal.
So, information technology allows your messages to be sent and received in a more secure manner, where other parties couldn't look into the message's contentseven if they wanted to.
What Else Could The Lock Icon Mean?
If you accept reason to believe that the lock iconisn'tacquired by encrypted messages existence sent, then what else could it be?
After all, perhaps your phone doesn't actually support RCS, or you just know it's got to be something else.
Depending on your phone model, it'south too possible that the lock icon is in that location to indicate the message cannot be deleted – at to the lowest degree not without unlocking it first.
For example, if yous were to delete an entire message thread from someone, locking a few letters would ensure those messages remained, fifty-fifty if rest of the thread was deleted.
This can be useful for ensuring that important letters do not end up getting removed or deleted by mistake.
To run into if a message was locked this way, tap and hold on the message.
From here, if yous run into an option that says 'unlock', you'll know this is the cause of the lock icon appearing.
Of course, this option only appears on some Android phones, running certain messaging clients. So, it won't exist the cause of the lock icon appearing for many phones.
How To Disable RCS On Your Device
If you no longer want RCS to be enabled on your device – and you exercise non want your letters to be encrypted, don't worry!
Thankfully, disabling RCS is a pretty elementary process, and only takes a few moments to conduct out.
To disable RCS on Android, follow these steps:
- Open the Messages app that yous use to ship / receive text letters.
- Open up the menu, past tapping on the icon with 3 dots (or your profile picture.)
- Tap on 'Settings.'
- Tap on 'Conversation features.'
- Toggle 'Enable conversation features' to off.
And that's all there is to it!
Unless you take a specific reason for turning information technology off however, I highly recommend that you avoid doing and then.
Amongst the boosted new features that RCS provides, having your messages sent with end-to-encryption makes your messages far more secure.
There are no benefits to disabling it, and you lot practice not lose anything past leaving it enabled.
So, although the lock icon may be annoying to see, it really is for your own benefit!
Annotation:Some people have reported that they experienced troubles after disabling RCS, that were solved afterward turning their phone off and dorsum on again. So, if you experience trouble sending messages, attempt restarting your phone in order to fix the event!
Conclusion
If you see a lock symbol on your text letters, this typically means that the bulletin is end-to-stop encrypted. Nonetheless, on some telephone models this can also hateful that the message cannot be deleted.
If you'd like, you tin can disable RCS in your phone'southward settings, which will disable the encryption used to secure your messages.
I hope that you've found this article helpful, and that it'south answered all of your questions.
If you accept whatsoever other questions about texting on Android, please ask them below and I'll exist happy to aid.
Wishing you the best,
– James McAllister
Source: https://jamesmcallisteronline.com/lock-symbol-text-messages/
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