Signal beats WhatsApp to become secure and private messaging app: All you need to know

Signal saw a surge in downloads this week following an endorsement by Tesla   CEO Elon Musk on Thursday, Jan 7. The mass exodus caused some trouble as Signal’s servers were unable to handle the influx and verification codes were delayed, though that issue appears to have been resolved

Signal is a cross-platform encrypted messaging app developed by the Signal Foundation and Signal Messenger LLC. Using this app, users can send and receive one-to-one and group messages. These messages do not have to be only about texts but can also include files, voice notes, images and videos.

Signal also has a disappearing messages feature. You can set disappearing messages on for each individual chat and choose the time ranging from 5 seconds to one week.

Also, one cannot back-up chats on signal. If you lose access to your phone, and set up Signal once again on a new device, all previous chats will be gone.

Signal has plenty of privacy-focused features and the app does not collect any data. Although one needs to sign up on Signal using their mobile phone number for registration, the app does not link your phone number to your identity.