The best messaging app around just got even better.
Signal, the free and open source encrypted messaging app, launched end-to-end encrypted group video calls Tuesday. The feature, which at present is limited to five people per call, allows members of a Signal group to pop in and out of an ongoing call at will. It’s pretty great.
“Now when you open a group chat in Signal, you’ll see a video call button at the top,” explains Tuesday’s blog post announcing the new feature. “When you start a call, the group will receive a notification letting them know a call has started.”
Notably, unlike Facebook’s Messenger Rooms, group video calls on Signal are end-to-end encrypted. This means that only those on the call can hear and see what you’re discussing.
“While there are significant challenges to providing end-to-end encryption for video calling with large groups of people,” noted a Messenger Rooms privacy page from April, “we’re actively working toward this for Messenger and Rooms.”
It appears that Signal beat Facebook to the punch.
Even noted whistleblower and security expert Edward Snowden chimed in with his support of the new feature.
“I have been waiting for this for a very long time,” he wrote Tuesday.
In a brief test of the feature Tuesday morning, this reporter found group calls simple and intuitive to use. In an existing Signal group, you only need to tap the video icon in the upper-right corner of the screen to start the call. Once you’ve done so, group members can join or leave the call at their pleasure.
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The ease of end-to-end encrypted group video calls on Signal is yet another piece of evidence that Signal is the best messaging app around. With Signal promising to “to let you have even more [than 5] participants in a group call soon,” it’s only going to keep getting better.