Millions of people use Signal every day for free and instantaneous communication anywhere in the world. Send and receive high-fidelity messages, participate in HD voice/video calls, and explore a growing set of new features that help you stay connected. Signal’s advanced privacy-preserving technology is always enabled, so you can focus on sharing the moments that matter with the people who matter to you.
Is Signal secure?
Signal is the gold standard for private messaging apps at the moment. It is free and open source. Using end-to-end encryption by default, Signal keeps all forms of communication on the platform as safe as they can be. These include one-on-one chat, voice, and video calls, as well as group chats.
Is Signal better than WhatsApp?
While Signal and WhatsApp are similar in that they are both messaging platforms, they are built for serving two distinct purposes.
Signal is open source and collects less user data, while WhatsApp purposely links user information to your account. WhatsApp offers cloud backup of your conversations, while Signal only stores message history locally, which means that chats would be lost if you lose your phone. This is all done by design as Signal is meant to be more private.
Both WhatsApp and Signal offer end-to-end encryption, for both messages and calls. Both apps require a mobile phone number for accessing the service and both let you use only one phone and five other devices.
Can Signal do video calls?
Yes, Signal can make video calls to individuals and group calls for up to 40 participants.
Features
State-of-the-art end-to-end encryption (powered by the open source Signal Protocol) keeps your conversations secure. We can’t read your messages or listen to your calls, and no one else can either. Privacy isn’t an optional mode — it’s just the way that Signal works. Every message, every call, every time.
- Say anything – State-of-the-art end-to-end encryption (powered by the open source Signal Protocol) keeps your conversations secure. Privacy isn’t an optional mode — it’s just the way that Signal works. Every message, every call, every time.
- Go fast – Messages are delivered quickly and reliably, even on slow networks. Signal is optimized to operate in the most constrained environment possible.
- Feel free – Signal is a completely independent 501c3 nonprofit. Development is supported by users like you. No advertisements. No trackers. No kidding.
- Be yourself – You can use your existing phone number and address book to securely communicate with your friends.
- Speak up – Whether they live across town or across the ocean, Signal’s enhanced audio and video quality will make your friends and family feel closer.
- Whisper in the shadows – Switch to the dark theme if you refuse to see the light.
- Sound familiar – Choose custom alerts for each contact, or disable noises completely. Simon & Garfunkel wrote a hit song about it in 1964, and you can experience the sound of silence whenever you want by choosing “None” as your notification ringtone.
- Picture this – Use the built-in image editing features to sketch, crop, and flip your outgoing photos. There’s even a text tool so that you can add more words to the 1,000 that your picture is already worth.
Note: To use the Signal desktop app, Signal must first be installed on your phone.
What’s New
Windows and macOS version at 6.0.0:
- Stories are now in Signal! Share disappearing text, images, and video updates with select friends or groups that automatically disappear after 24 hours. For everyone who loves sharing stories, here’s a way to do it privately and without seeing any ads. If you don’t want to see or share stories, you can opt out of it all in your Preferences > Privacy.
- This version contains a number of small tweaks and bug fixes to keep Signal running smoothly.
- Fixes a bug that prevented some users from starting the app
- Fixes a bug that prevented some users from fetching and updating group information
Signal Android APK updated to 6.5.5:
- If your favorite way to update your friends about life disappears in 24 hours, we’ve got some happy news for you. Stories are now available on Signal for Android and iOS, with Desktop coming soon!
- If something interrupts your recording (like admiring our new looks), your message will be perfectly preserved in our new draft state.
- Play voice notes at double speed if you’re in a rush, or slow them down if you want to cherish the moment. Or just because you think it sounds funny.
- A new in-app player lets you control voice note playback when switching to another chat or the chat list.
