Viber Gets End-to-End Encryption, Hidden Messages, and More

Following in the footsteps of WhatsApp bringing end-to-end encryption to all its messages, Viber has started rolling out end-to-end encryption to its users. The encryption comes as a part of an app update along with some other features. The Viber app has now been updated to version 6.0 on both Android and iOS.

The update's key feature is the end-to-end chat encryption verification for personal and group chats. The verification will show up as a padlock symbol in conversations to confirm that the chat is completely encrypted. Taking user's privacy seriously, the Viber app update will now also give users the ability to hide chats from the main chat list.

Once you choose to hide a specific chat in a group or in a personal conversation, those chats will disappear from your screen, but won't affect the other party. Users can then access the hidden chats using a secret PIN. Lastly, the Viber app version 6.0 users will see a new layer of security - contact authentication that provides the 'trust contact' mechanism.

On iOS, the update brings the option to 'Like' media right from the preview screen. The app also now takes less space on iOS devices than before. The updated Viber apps for Android and iOS are available to download from Google Play and the App Store.

Viber in February brought 3D Touch functionality as a part of the update v5.8 for iOS users. The version also included features like Split View and Slide Over for better multitasking on iPad tablets.