Similar to WhatsApp, Signal is also a crossed-platform end-to-end encrypted messaging application. It performs all the typical functions such as sending and sharing text messages, audio messages, videos, documents, and images.
Ever since WhatsApp has announced that the application will share user-related data and information with Facebook-owned companies, there have been a series of controversies that have been evoked in the backdrop of this decision. Following this, there are murmurs of users looking for alternatives that can keep their data safe and far from sharing with other platforms.
It has now become a necessity that WhatsApp users are left with no other choice as the Facebook-owned messaging platform has made it mandatory to either accept the modifications in the privacy policy or delete the account. As of now, many users are either clueless or bewildered pertaining to this sudden bolt out of the blue from WhatsApp. Amid all the mayhem, the ‘Signal App’ might be considered as one of the alternatives against the massive popularity of WhatsApp.
What is Signal App?
Similar to WhatsApp, Signal is also a crossed-platform end-to-end encrypted messaging application. It performs all the typical functions such as sending and sharing text messages, audio messages, videos, documents, images, etc. Added to that, it can also be used to make video and audio calls along with group calls. While it is compatible with both Android and iOS users, the app can also function as an SMS application for Android users as well.
Signal did use the standard cellular telephone numbers while identifying and securing all the contacts available on the phone which are also having a Signal account. Further, this app also has a mechanism through which users can easily identify and verify the data of their contacts. The app has been developed by Signal Foundation and Signal Messenger LLC. The Signal Foundation is a non-profit organisation and was launched in 2018 and its app has more than 10 million downloads now. Quite similar to WhatsApp, the app can also be set up on a desktop and easily be linked to the account on the phone.
Elon Musk’s Comment on Signal App
Pertaining to the simmering controversy over WhatsApp’s new rules regarding the privacy policy, Elon Musk took to Twitter and said that users must start using ‘Signal’ app as a viable alternative to the Facebook-owned messaging app which will now share user data with other business-related firms and companies under its banner.
It is quite clear that Elon Musk believes that Signal is the best alternative to WhatsApp while users across social media have also started trending #DeleteWhatsApp against its policy update.
Soon after the tweet of Elon Musk, the Signal app is seemingly witnessing a surge of new users in its database. The popularity of the app has grown so much so in the recent past that now the company has started witnessing delays in phone-number verification across carriers. Moreover, the Signal foundation is led by WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton.
As the swell of users increases on Signal App, the application said in a tweet that it is working with different carriers to resolve the verification issues as soon as possible. Apart from this, Musk also took a pot-shot on Facebook allusively accusing it of the recent Capitol Hill riots in the US.