New Delhi: Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has announced a significant security upgrade for Arattai, the company’s India-made messaging app. In a detailed post on X, Vembu urged users to update the app immediately, confirming that full end to end encrypted chats will go live on Tuesday night IST. The rollout marks Arattai’s biggest change since its launch, and it will put the app in the same privacy league as WhatsApp, Signal and other encrypted messengers.
The update will not be a simple switch. Vembu explained that Arattai users will see new chat sessions, older threads getting archived, and a short transition window before end to end encryption becomes mandatory across the app. For someone like me who still has half his family on outdated apps, it sounds like the next three days are going to be fun.
How Arattai is turning on end to end encryption this week
In his post, Vembu broke down how the upgrade will work. His message was direct, almost like he was briefing users before a big migration. “Please update the Arattai app from the Play Store/App Store and please encourage your contacts to do so,” he wrote, adding that the encryption upgrade will “be enabled Tuesday night IST.”
The rollout depends entirely on whether both users in a chat have updated the app. If both are on the latest version, Arattai will automatically shift them to a fresh encrypted chat session, while the older non encrypted session will be archived. Users will not be able to continue old threads once the new encrypted session is created. The app will simply redirect them.
For contacts who haven’t updated, the older chat will still work temporarily. But that breathing room is very short. “Only for 3 days,” Vembu said. After that, everyone will be pushed to the new version as encryption becomes “a system wide mandate.”
Group chats are not covered yet. Vembu said group encryption is coming in a few weeks, starting with smaller groups. Backups for encrypted chats will arrive in about two weeks.
What users can expect during the transition
From what Vembu described, the next few days will feel like a platform-wide reset. Arattai is essentially rebooting its messaging foundation. That means:
- New encrypted chat windows for every updated contact
- Old chats archived and locked
- Three day deadline for non updated users
- Group chats staying unchanged for now
It reminds me a bit of the early days of WhatsApp rolling out encryption, except Arattai is doing it in one quick sweep.
Vembu also hinted that this update is clearing the path for more features. “We have many more cool features in the works once we get through this big transition,” he wrote, thanking users for their patience.
Why Arattai’s encryption shift matters
Arattai was launched as a privacy friendly Indian alternative, but encryption is the core test for any messaging platform. Without it, a chat app just feels incomplete in 2025.
This upgrade also gives Arattai a chance to reposition itself. With rising concerns over data sharing, Aadhaar-linking debates, and cloud storage access rules, many Indian users want platforms that keep things simple and private. End to end encryption means Arattai cannot read user messages, even if compelled.
From a tech perspective, resetting every single user’s chat session is a huge step. Not many apps take that route. But it makes sense for a system that wants no leftover unencrypted threads hanging around.
The road ahead for Arattai
Once this transition ends, all eyes will be on how the app handles encrypted backups, group encryption, and the “cool features” Vembu teased. If Arattai gets these right, it could slowly carve out more space in a crowded messaging market.
For now, the immediate job is simple. Update the app. Convince your contacts to update it. And brace for your chat list to look a little different by Tuesday night.