What is Signal App and How to Use it on Android

24 December, 2020 — James Brandon

If you love exploring new apps, then you must have heard of the new Signal app. If you haven’t yet, don’t worry as this piece will enlighten you. Signal is a new messaging app just like WhatsApp, Telegram, or Instagram but with an added level of privacy.

Over the years, there have been increased cases of privacy breaches in the commonly-used messaging apps. In a previous post, we even discussed some alternative apps that are more secure than WhatsApp. The privacy problem necessitated the birth of Signal-a highly encrypted messaging app. Signal allows its users to send texts, images, videos, and audio messages to individuals and groups.

Signal uses its open-source signal protocol to provide encrypted end-to-end communication between users. The Android version of the app can also work as a phone’s SMS or MMS app; even though they won’t be encrypted.

To use the Signal app on your Android device:

• Download and install the app on your device

• Launch the app by tapping on its icon

• Agree and accept the app’s license

• Enter and confirm your phone number in the space provided

• Edit your profile as you do on other messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram

• Once you are done setting up your profile, tap the pen icon to start a conversation. Just like on WhatsApp, you will have to select the contact that you wish to converse with.

Signal also allows users to set automatically disappearing messages on a contact-to-contact basis. You can access these settings by tapping the three vertical dots that appear inside a conversation thread.