Snowden-Approved Secure Chat App Arrives On Android

For someone who has a vast knowledge of the electronic spying capabilities and programs of the National Security Agency and its partners you’d think that an endorsement from Edward Snowden will carry much weight particularly with those who have become extra cautious about their online security following the revelations made by Snowden. Signal is a secure encrypted chat app that Edward Snowden, by his own admission, uses every day. Six months after the call and chat app arrived on iOS it has now been released for Android.

Over the next few days Open Whisper Systems, the developer of TextSecure and Redphone, will be rolling out Signal which combines the secure chat feature of the former and secure call feature of the latter into one single application.

It doesn’t operate any differently than the iOS version, any image, video or text sent from Signal on Android is encrypted before it even leaves the smartphone which means that even if it wanted to Open Whisper can’t see what it is that you’re sending.

The team promises that all conversations made through the app are encrypted end-to-end. Users will be able to make calls and send messages via their existing phone number and contacts app, there don’t need to make an account in order to use Signal.

Now that the app is on Android it means that users between iOS and Android will be able to send encrypted communications back and forth, an app has also been promised for the desktop but it hasn’t come out just yet, when it does Signal will truly become a cross-platform secure messaging client with the coveted Snowden stamp of approval.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Apps, Edward Snowden