The hype around the Arattai app is real. In just a few weeks, the app has become one of the top downloaded apps on the App Store and Google Play Store. Now seeing the buzz around it and its popularity, its parent company Zoho is planning to introduce new features to the app. This includes most-demanded end-to-end encryption (E2E).
In a conversation with India Today Tech, Zoho CEO Mani Vembu details the plans his company has around Arattai. Vembu confirms that E2E encryption is currently under active development and will be rolled out soon. “We already support encryption for calls and videos,” Vembu said. “Even in messages, we have something called Secret Chat where it is supported, but that is not the default. Now we are actually working on end-to-end encryption, and most probably we will have an announcement on it soon. That’s our highest priority right now.”
Zoho is betting high on user privacy and data safety on Arattai. In fact, in our conversation, Vembu also reiterated that the platform will never use ads or user data for monetisation. The upcoming end-to-end encryption rollout will ensure that only the sender and receiver can read messages, making interception virtually impossible, and not even Zoho will be able to access user content.
Zoho eyes on a platform approach
Alongside the security push, Zoho is exploring how Arattai can evolve into a platform that allows third-party apps and services to build within its ecosystem. “We are looking at how to open this platform for others — to build apps that are useful for consumers. That’s another direction we are exploring because it’s going to be a differentiator for us,” Vembu adds.
Meanwhile, Arattai has witnessed an explosive growth in India. Vembu shared that before the recent viral surge, the platform saw around 3,500 sign-ups per day. That number skyrocketed to 350,000 in a single day sometime last week and then crossed one million on one of the days.
