Signal desktop app with end-to-end encryption now open to all

Open Whisper Systems’ Signal desktop app is now open to all. Launched in December, the private messaging app for desktops was available on an invite-only basis, but now the Desktop Signal beta is now available for all. Signal is a Chrome app that can be linked to a smartphone, allowing to display all incoming and outgoing messages on all connected devices. This free app syncs only with your Android devices for now, but the company reportedly plans to add iOS support too. The USP of the app is that conversations are end-to-end encrypted. This means all those chats, and content shared will be viewed by the sender and the recipient only. It already has chat and call app for Android and iOS. “As always, everything is end-to-end encrypted and painstakingly engineered in order to keep your communication safe – allowing you to send high-quality private group, text, picture, and video messages for free,” it writes in a blogpost. The app is still in beta and the setup is said to be automatic. You just need to add the Chrome app to the list of devices linked with your number with a text and a QR code. It is also very simple to delink. Recently, Apple was also known to have hired Signal’s developer. After the Apple-FBI standoff, WhatsApp announced end-to-end encryption. And now with Signal for desktop coming to everyone, one shouldn’t be surprised to witness some intense debate over encryption yet again.