Signal’s group chat changes will allow administrators to add and remove people from groups without a Signal server ever being aware of that group’s members. It has also been announced that the app will trial support for storing encrypted contact details in the cloud, and will also offer a new system for group messaging in the future. It supports the sending of images and videos that disappear after viewing (à la Snapchat or Instagram), stickers, and emoji reactions to messages. It is no longer merely just a barebones encrypted messaging app, but also offers features that rival those of other messaging apps. The Signal Foundation now has 20 employees, with the Signal app boasting more and more features as time goes on. Since then, Acton has been heavily involved in data privacy movements such as #DeleteFacebook, which he has openly supported over the past few years since his departure. Facebook purchased WhatsApp in 2014 for approximately $19 billion. Acton only left Facebook back in 2018 after having seen the company’s attempts at dismantling the privacy offered by WhatsApp.

This particular linking up makes sense, especially as WhatsApp’s first versions of end-to-end encryption had actually used Signal’s open-source encryption protocols.

Signal messenger developer