IT IS HAPPENING! Today, Signal launches phone number privacy & usernames! These let you use Signal w/o sharing your phone number w/ the people you talk to Proud to add more privacy to Signal, & proud of the brilliant team that made it happen♥️ https://signal.org/blog/phone-number-privacy-usernames/ - ThreadSky

meredithmeredith.bsky.social • 408 days ago

IT IS HAPPENING! Today, Signal launches phone number privacy & usernames! These let you use Signal w/o sharing your phone number w/ the people you talk to

Proud to add more privacy to Signal, & proud of the brilliant team that made it happen♥️ https://signal.org/blog/phone-number-privacy-usernames/

Comments

blank.org•408 days ago

This is great news and I deeply appreciate the work that you've all put into this.

My one Entirely Reasonable Request™ (🤣) -- it would be great if Signal eventually supported multiple usernames. It would be great to be able to generate, e.g. a username solely to put into my bsky bio page.

merlelaperle.bsky.social•407 days ago

Check

https://SecureMessagingApps.com

rate
🟩=3 🟨=1 🟥=0

result:

1. Threema = 85 = most secure messenger !

2. Session = 79
3. Signal = 77
4. Wickr (Amazon) = 62
5. Element / Matrix (Amdocs) = 59
6. WhatsApp (Meta) = 34
7. Telegram (Putin) = 29
8. iMessage (Apple) = 25
9. Facebook Messenger = 25

edusan.bsky.es•406 days ago

Telegram (Putin)...? 🙄

merlelaperle.bsky.social•406 days ago

¡Espero que sepan que la propaganda rusa no es más que mentiras!

En Siberia, telegram y whatsapp fueron bloqueados hace 2 semanas durante las protestas

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/01/24/widespread-telegram-whatsapp-outages-reported-across-russia-a83830

merlelaperle.bsky.social•406 days ago

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloqueo_de_Telegram_en_Rusia

islamicaudiobooks.bsky.social•401 days ago

Needs to be updated with Briar, Jami and SimpleX.

raulmv93.bsky.social•407 days ago

And Messages (RCS) from Google?

merlelaperle.bsky.social•407 days ago

The feature was announced back in 2016 = 8 years!

But since Signal still knows who the user is due to the mobile number requirement, this is nonsense!

Better Threema = 100% anonymous use!

If that's not worth the few euros/$, you don't understand data protection & privacy!

zolander.bsky.social•407 days ago

Great initiative MW! I have a question for you: why don't phone companies just BLOCK spammers and phishers? Once you get 100 complaints, it's a smoking gun rite? I don't understand why your common-sense initiative has taken so long and why other obvious strategies aren't implemented!?!?!?!?!?!?

ridder.bsky.social•408 days ago

Just checked and my Signal doesn't have any of this. Did I miss in the article when it will be generally available?

ridder.bsky.social•408 days ago

Sorry, just found it: "Right now, these options are in beta, and will be rolling out to everyone in the coming weeks."

It would be great to get an announcement/reminder when it's generally available.

ridder.bsky.social•407 days ago

Thanks. Aware of the beta option. I'll wait until all of you have tested it for me first. 😀

chirag.bsky.social•408 days ago

If you don't want to wait you can join the beta channel. The beta app has this feature.

nzheretic.bsky.social•408 days ago

"Note that even once these features reach everyone, both you and the people you are chatting with on Signal will need to be using the most updated version of the app to take advantage of them.''
Does this mean that someone using a sideloaded older version of signal will be able to see phone numbers?

natanael.bsky.social•408 days ago

If you set your phone number to be hidden from others then nobody can see it. I assume that people who haven't updated yet won't be able to interact with you until after they updated, because the old app only expects phone numbers, not usernames.

nzheretic.bsky.social•408 days ago

" I assume that people who haven't updated yet won't be able to interact with you until after they updated, because the old app only expects phone numbers, not usernames."

That what I thought, but I'd prefer an official response before making my signal username public.

marypcbuk.bsky.social•407 days ago

do you know if the usernames we create on the beta will be retained when the feature reaches the release app, or if we will need to recreate them?

meredithmeredith.bsky.social•404 days ago

They will be retained. But you can change them at any time.

marypcbuk.bsky.social•404 days ago

Great news, thanks!

mat-savage.bsky.social•408 days ago

Finally!

neonchinchilla.bsky.social•408 days ago

Yay!

:)

dvrnt.hkr.pw•408 days ago

finally i got what i deserve for donating to signal.

debaka.bsky.social•408 days ago

Great to hear!

jametc.bsky.social•408 days ago

Does this mean I can register without giving it to them at all??

skyblu.bsky.social•408 days ago

No. Per the blog: "If you don’t want to hand out your phone number to chat with someone on Signal, you can now create a unique username that you can use instead (you will still need a phone number to sign up for Signal)."

matched.bsky.social•407 days ago

Thanks. So, #Threema is still the standard for privacy.

skyblu.bsky.social•407 days ago

it may not need a phone number but if barely anyone uses it, gonna be a tough sell. use both if you need to.

matched.bsky.social•407 days ago

Any app was barely used by people at some stage.
However, I can find most of my contacts on #Threema. Those who don't use Threema can only contact me by E-Mail or SMS.
Fun fact: Threema is available to everyone through all popular app stores and can also be purchased on https://threema.ch.

skyblu.bsky.social•407 days ago

tbh, i have never heard a single friend mention threema. ive seen it in comparisons and such, and thats it. im all for people having backup solutions, signal (or threema) shouldnt be your only encrypted messaging app.

jametc.bsky.social•408 days ago

Ah I see. Thank you for the clarification

skyblu.bsky.social•408 days ago

given that you can change your username, it seems the phone number is required to tie it back to you. still useful though!

rlux.nyc•408 days ago

My last Signal update was 3 days ago, does that update include this or do I need to wait for the next release?

natanael.bsky.social•408 days ago

Seems like a newer version is required

rlux.nyc•408 days ago

thanks.

skawt.net•408 days ago

That feature is still in beta, so we don’t have it unless we get the beta/testflight versions of it on our phones and tablets.

bsky.gay•408 days ago

so exciting! any plans to make an "only contacts"/"only selected contacts" option for both who can find me and who can see my number?

peteraranyi.bsky.social•398 days ago

Very cool -- this feature is now working for me.
I set up a username & hid my phone number in the Signal desktop app last night (after receiving an update), and then today when my latest iOS update came through: Voila! There it was.

Sweet as.

peteraranyi.bsky.social•408 days ago

Great job Signal team. Woo hoo, I bet that wasn't easy!
I like the sound of options laid out in that blog post. Can't wait to try it (well, obviously I can wait, or I'd be in the beta program, I guess.)
Anyway, good on you.

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