“Please update Arattai”: Sridhar Vembu announces mandatory end-to-end encryption for personal chats

Please update Arattai: Zoho’s homegrown messaging app Arattai is rolling out what founder Sridhar Vembu calls one of its biggest security upgrades—mandatory end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for one-to-one chats.

In a detailed post on X, Vembu urged users to update Arattai from the Play Store/App Store and encourage their contacts to do the same, stating that end-to-end encryption will be enabled on Tuesday night, IST. 

The change is part of a move to make E2EE the default, system-wide mode for Arattai, after months of internal testing with around 6,000 Zoho employees. 

What users must do: Update now, and tell your contacts

Vembu’s key message is simple:

“Please update the Arattai app from the Play Store/App Store and please encourage your contacts to do so. The end to end encryption will be enabled Tuesday night IST.” 

How it works in practice:

1. Both on latest version → new encrypted chat
   
   • If you and your contact are on the latest Arattai version, the app will create a new E2EE chat session for that contact.
     
   • The old, non-encrypted chat will be archived, and its screen will simply redirect to the new encrypted chat. You can’t keep using the old thread with that contact.
     
2. Contact on old version → temporary fallback
   
   • If your contact hasn’t updated yet, you can continue using the old (non-encrypted) chat for up to 3 days.
     
   • Vembu explicitly asks users to push such contacts to upgrade. After 3 days, Arattai will force everyone onto the latest app, and E2EE becomes system-wide mandatory.
     

These three days are described as a transition phase to avoid breaking conversations while the new security model takes over. 

What about groups and backups?

For now, the encryption upgrade is focused on one-to-one chats. Vembu’s post and subsequent coverage clarify: 

• Group chats
  
  • Currently not yet end-to-end encrypted.
    
  • E2EE for groups of a certain size will roll out in a few weeks.
    
• Encrypted backups
  
  • End-to-end encrypted chats will get a backup option in about two weeks.
    
  • This is important because strong E2EE often complicates cloud backup—Arattai is planning a model that keeps chats encrypted while still allowing recovery on new devices.
    

Vembu also hinted at “many more cool features” in the pipeline once this major security transition is stable. 

Why Arattai chose system-wide, mandatory E2EE

Earlier this month, Vembu publicly discussed two options for rolling out encryption:

1. Let users choose which chats should be E2EE, or
   
2. Move to mandatory system-wide E2EE.
   

He has now confirmed that Arattai picked option 2, calling it a “forced upgrade” because it required a redesign of the app’s internal architecture and must be rolled out uniformly to avoid confusion and security gaps. 

The goal: to ensure that messages can only be read by the sender and recipient, not by Zoho, ISPs or any third party, bringing Arattai in line with the “WhatsApp-level” E2EE users now expect from modern messengers. 

Privacy as Responsibility, not just a feature

From a Satgyan perspective inspired by Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj, this upgrade is more than a tech tweak; it touches on how we handle trust and responsibility online:

• When friends, family or sangat share messages with us, that information is like amanat—a sacred deposit.
• End-to-end encryption helps protect that amanat technically, but inner ethics decide what we share and why.
• E2EE ensures that platforms and outsiders can’t read chats, yet Satgyan reminds us that our actions and intentions are never hidden from the Supreme.
• So even in “private” chats, one must avoid ninda (backbiting), asatya (falsehood) and apmaan (insults); otherwise we’re only encrypting the sin, not removing it.
  

In short, Arattai’s E2EE is a welcome shield—but real security still comes from right knowledge and right conduct.

Read Also: Sridhar Vembu’s Call for India’s Tech Talent to Return: Deep Dive

FAQs: Please update Arattai