Back in October, Signal released a beta version of its app with a Stories-like feature. After a month of beta testing, the encrypted messaging app has made Stories available to all its users on iOS and Android. And as you might imagine, Signal Stories works just like Instagram Stories.
Signal now has Stories
The company says it decided to put Stories in the app because the feature allows people to communicate with others without texting them.
Users can share public Stories that remain available to others for 24 hours. There are also options to restrict who can see your Stories, and you can also share Stories in individual and group conversations. The app shows a list of people who have seen your Stories, but people can turn off view receipts in the app settings.
Sometimes you just need a chill way to show your crush that you went to a very cool concert, without having to text them. Stories let you share your life with a select group of people in a way that doesn’t result in a new message notification. They give you a place to tell the kinds of jokes that work better in a sequential image or video format, and to share what you’re doing without the pressure of a conversation.
Reinforcing Signal’s commitment to end-to-end encryption, the platform says that the feature also has the same technology in order to ensure users’ privacy. “Like everything we build in Signal, stories are end-to-end encrypted. The only people who will be able to see your stories are the people you’ve selected–not Signal, not anyone else.”
But what’s even more interesting is that, unlike other platforms like Instagram, Signal lets users completely turn off the Stories feature. Other social networks like Twitter have also tried to push their own Stories solution. However, in this case, Twitter later discontinued “Fleets” after confirming that the feature never had appeal among its users.
Signal users who want the new feature must update the app to version 6.0. The update is now available for free on the App Store.
