Signal Now Offers Default Disappearing Messages for New Chats

Signal Enhances Message Privacy with New Disappearing Message Features

The Signal encrypted messaging application is introducing several new features designed to bolster user privacy. These updates focus on streamlining the use of disappearing messages, offering greater control over message retention.

Default Timers for Disappearing Messages

Users can now establish a default timer for disappearing messages. This setting will be automatically applied to all new conversations initiated within the app.

Previously, enabling disappearing messages required manual activation and interval selection for each individual chat. This could easily lead to overlooking the privacy benefit, particularly with numerous ongoing conversations.

Expanded Timer Options

Signal is broadening the range of available disappearing message timers. Users can now choose intervals extending up to four weeks.

Shorter durations are also available, with options as brief as 30 seconds, and even down to a single second through the app’s custom settings.

Important Considerations Regarding Disappearing Messages

It’s crucial to understand that while disappearing messages are removed from the app interface, they aren’t necessarily permanently erased. Content shared online remains vulnerable to capture through screenshots or external device photography.

Signal emphasizes that these features are primarily intended for storage management and minimizing conversation history. They are not a suitable security measure against malicious contacts, as the company stated in a recent blog post.

Signal’s Growing User Base

The application continues to be a leading choice for end-to-end encrypted communication. Earlier this year, Signal experienced an influx of users migrating from WhatsApp due to concerns regarding data-sharing policies at Facebook.

The messaging app is highly respected for its robust features and independent operation. However, it remains smaller in scale compared to Facebook’s WhatsApp, which was acquired in 2014.

As of December 2020, Signal reported approximately 20 million monthly active users, while WhatsApp had surpassed 2 billion users the previous year.

These updates demonstrate Signal’s ongoing commitment to providing a secure and private messaging experience for its users.