Facebook WhatsApp changes its privacy policy on February 8, when it will begin sharing user information with Facebook, including location, phone numbers, profile names, and pictures, when it is signed in to last time online and more. Now people go to an alternative text messaging app called Signal that doesn’t collect your data.
According to Reuters, daily downloads have increased 18 times since WhatsApp changed its privacy policy, surpassing more than 800,000 daily downloads. This was probably partly driven by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who tweeted “use Signal” earlier this month.
Signal, like WhatsApp, is a chat app that lets you send messages and call friends and family using end-to-end encryption, which means your messages are more secure and no one can read them easily, including Signal. It supports group messaging and other fun features that you can already use in chat applications, such as GIFs, videos, and pictures. It even has encrypted group video calls, although right now compatibility is limited to five people. It’s completely free and you can use it on iPhones, Android phones, Macs, Windows PCs and Linux.
Signal is also not a massive tech company that makes money with your information. It is a registered non-profit organization that relies on donations to operate. The free app does not collect your private information and has no ads.
Here’s how to use it.
How Signal is used
The Signal Messenger app is displayed on a smartphone in Hong Kong, China.
Roy Liu | Bloomberg | Getty Images
- Download Signal for iPhone or Android.
- Enter your phone number. This is because Signal can send you a text message and verify that you are the one using the application.
- Enter the code you received by text message.
- Tap “Register without transferring”. If you’ve already used Signal, you can choose “Transfer from iOS device” to download your old conversations, but in the name of this guide, we assume you haven’t used Signal yet.
- You are now on the Signal home screen.
- Tap the pencil icon at the top right to create a message.
- You can start sending messages to people who already use Signal. But you may also need to tap “Invite friends to sign in” if your contact doesn’t already have the app. This will allow you to create an email or text message to friends and family with a link to download the app.
- Once joined, you can start chats with the same pencil icon or create groups, as you would on WhatsApp. You’ll even see reading receipts, links to send audio messages, stickers, photos, and more.
This is! You are now up and running on Signal. If you want to use it instead of WhatsApp, you can delete WhatsApp chats by tapping “edit” at the top left of the chat page. Select the messages and tap “delete”. A copy of your messages may be left for other users of the chats you have participated in until they are also deleted.