How to Build a Secure React Native Chat App with End-to-End Encryption

Building secure chat apps requires more than basic messaging—true privacy demands end-to-end encryption (E2EE) where only conversation participants can read messages, not the service provider. This guide demonstrates implementing E2EE in React Native using Stream's chat infrastructure, combining elliptic curve cryptography (secp256k1) with AES-256-GCM encryption. The system generates unique key pairs for each user, stores private keys securely on devices, and encrypts messages locally before transmission, ensuring Stream's servers only see encrypted payloads while users experience normal plaintext conversations.