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Signal

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Velocity0.0

End-to-end encrypted messaging app and protocol, known for privacy-focused chat, voice, and video calls.

signal.org ↗

Signal brings Secure Backups to every platform and starts automating key verification.

secure-backupslinked-deviceskey-verificationprivacymulti-device
◆Current state
Signal Secure Backups improvements are now available on all platforms with iOS 8.30, a year after the feature's introduction. Android 8.20 and iOS 8.22 extended linked devices to Android phones, Android tablets and iPhones. Automatic key verification now complements safety numbers as a simpler way to confirm no unexpected party sits in a session.
◆Where it's heading
The earlier alternation between protocol work and feature catch-up has narrowed into one theme: making multi-device life safe without asking users to do anything difficult. Backups, linked devices and automatic verification each remove a manual step or a reason to leave.
◆Prediction
The entries are teasers and do not point to a specific next feature. Further multi-device polish looks most likely, since that is where the last three posts landed.

◆Recent moves

  1. 1mo ago

    Back to Backups: A Year in Review

    A year after launch, the Secure Backups improvements reach all platforms with iOS 8.30. It completes the rollout begun in Android beta and removes one of Signal's oldest usability complaints.

    View source ↗
  2. 3mo ago

    Introducing Automatic Key Verification

    Automatic key verification adds a simpler check alongside safety numbers that no unexpected party is in an encrypted session. It keeps Signal's security model while removing work few users ever did by hand.

    View source ↗
  3. 3mo ago

    More linked devices are on the table (and the Android tablet)

    Android phones and tablets can now be linked to an account, and iPhones can be linked on iOS. It widens the multi-device story, with interface changes for larger screens.

    View source ↗
  4. 7mo ago

    Label yourself

    Group member labels let users tag people by their role (family, coworker, neighbor) inside a chat. Useful organizational UX in a product that historically resisted any group-chat metadata. Fits the recent pattern of closing small UX gaps against WhatsApp and Telegram.

    View source ↗
  5. 9mo ago

    Put a pin in it

    Pinned messages arrive in 1-1 and group chats. Pure feature-parity work — WhatsApp, Telegram, and iMessage have shipped this for years. Notable mostly because Signal kept saying no to it and now isn't.

    View source ↗
  6. 11mo ago

    Signal Polls: Yes, no, maybe (yes!)

    Polls land in group chats. Another mainstream feature Signal had historically declined to build. The fact that polls, pins, and group labels all shipped within four months is the signal: feature parity is now an explicit goal, not an embarrassment.

    View source ↗