Signal App

More and more individuals are worried about using popular messaging applications such as Twitter, Instagram, and even regular SMS services. They feel that these apps and services are not secure enough to ensure privacy. That's when we saw a great swell of interest in the Signal app.

The Signal app can be downloaded free of charge and was created for individuals and groups to send encrypted text, pictures, audio, and video messages. It can also be used for encrypted phone calls to mobile users between Signal users. Here's a brief look at what this app is all about, and why it has seen a sudden increase of new users.

What is Signal?

The Signal app's roots go back to 2010, when two Android apps were first launched by a company called Whisper Systems: one was TextSecure, which encrypted text messages, and the other was RedPhone, which did the same for voice calls. In 2011, Twitter acquired the company and the apps were released as free open-source software.

In 2013, Moxie Marlinspike, one of Whisper Systems' founders, quit Twitter. He founded another startup, Open Whisper Systems, and TextSecure and RedPhone continued to be developed. It was announced in 2014 that the company would combine the two applications, with the new name Signal, into one. In 2018, the non-profit Signal Foundation was founded by Marlinspike and WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton to continue the growth of the app and to protect free and open source applications.

What platforms support the app?

Singal is available for devices running iOS and Android, and is also available for Windows-based PCs. Linux and Mac.

How does the Signal app work?

To provide encrypted end-to-end communication between users of Signal, the app uses its own open-source Signal Protocol. That includes encrypted text for iOS, Android, and PC users, group chats, voice messages, images, and videos. The Android version of Signal can also act as an SMS or MMS app for a phone, but those text messages will not be encrypted. The smartphone edition also allows voice and video calls that are encrypted. The Signal Foundation revealed in October 2020 that it had officially added voice and video calls to its PC and iPad apps as well.

Also, the Signal app extends its support for community chats. You can now pick community administrators who can add or delete people from the group. If you want to highlight a certain person in a group chat, there is also support for @mentions. Community connections for everyone to join a Signal group may also be sent out.

Not only are signal messages encrypted, but all the metadata in those messages are also secret, the developers of the software insist. In other words, if you have a Signal Chat with someone else, it will only be noticed by the person who receives your messages.

Also, because a non-profit organization is funding the creation of the app, there is no financial incentive to sell any data. There are no commercials and downloading and use of the software will remain free. Plus, anybody can contribute to its development because it's open-source software.

Who recommends the app?

The Verge notes that the European Commission sent a note to its staff members in February 2020 saying that the Signal app was now the "recommended public instant message application." Jack Dorsey, founder and CEO of Twitter, is also a major Signal supporter. During June 2020, at the height of the huge global Black Lives Matter protests, Vox notes that Signal was one of the top 10 most downloaded social applications on iOS.

And the armed forces of our nation use the app. MilitaryTimes notes that on their smartphones, the 82nd Airborne Task Force Devil, which was deployed to the Middle East in January 2020, was asked to use the Signal tool. One thing seems clear: when there are greater privacy issues, or lack thereof, in regular messaging apps, the app becomes more popular.

How many people use the app?

How many regular or monthly users the app has, the Signal Foundation has never revealed. We do know, however, that the Android edition of the Signal app has been downloaded over 10 million times from the Google Play Store page.