TLDR version as per Signal’s Mastodon:
Introducing usernames and phone number privacy on Signal!
We’re making it possible for people to connect with each other without having to share phone numbers. Now launching to beta users, available for everyone soon.
- New default: Your phone number will no longer be visible in Signal
- You can create an optional username to connect without sharing your phone number
- You can enable a new, optional privacy setting to require people to connect with you via username instead of phone number
A Signal username isn’t the profile name that’s displayed in chats, and isn’t visible to the people you chat with on Signal. A username is simply a way to initiate contact on Signal without having to share your phone number. (You still need a phone number to sign up for Signal.)
Create a username by going to your Settings > Profile. Your username must be unique, and can be changed at any time.
To connect with someone via username instead of phone number, type their exact, unique username.
We’re launching these updates to our beta users now, and will be turning them on for everyone running the latest version of the Signal app soon. Our goal is to listen to your feedback, make adjustments, and ensure phone number privacy on Signal is easy and useful for everyone.
You can sign up for beta to test these features. Note that Apple caps the number of iOS beta testers, and we have reached that limit. If you use Signal on iOS, you can get around this by signing up for Desktop beta, linked to your iOS account. See more: https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007318471-Signal-Beta
For more information: Signal’s Blog Post
Ah awesome, it’s a shame that you still need the phone number though. I wanted my son to use Signal on my old phone to keep in touch when I’m out and he’s at home, but I’m not signing up for a phone plan for him at his age.
in Switzerland, carriers allow you to carry over a number from a prepaid into a plan. Check if you can get him a prepaid now, then move it to a plan.
Session, simplex, briar (on Android), I could go on. There are plenty of alternatives to signal that don’t require a phone number.
I wonder if you could use a VOIP number from someone like MySudo for that phone. Or just get a prepaid SIM and you’d have a number that could get the texts for activating Signal.
Will you (the community) be setting your username to your public username (a username you use everywhere) or something that’s different from your public username?
Idk why, but signal feels more… personal(?) and I’d hate for general people to stumble across my signal account just by guessing whether my signal username is my public username.
I’d be fine if they got my Discord account, mastodon account, Lemmy account (they’re all different usernames anyway) because they’re public-ish accounts. Signal feels less public and I’d want to go with a username that only I can send to people I know.
It looks like there will be a message requests area and it looks like usernames can also be changed (should a username ever be doxxed).
I’m still on the fence.
I see this as both a win and a potential problem for the app’s reputation:
As soon as you take away a hard link to a real-life identifier, the sketchy people come out of the woodwork and trade images/video of child exploitation.
Signal has not had this problem like some platforms (e.g. Kik), and I suspect two reasons:
- Lack of searchable chat rooms
- Concrete link to a phone number that anyone who contacts you must know (and make it easy to identify you to authorities)
Up until now signal has been an excellent secure replacement for text messaging between parties that know each other. I hope they don’t go the “chat groups” route, though I doubt they will. But I suspect this change will make it a preferred way for abusers to exchange images and videos nearly anonymously
How would that even be caught in the first place though? It’s E2E encrypted so nobody can see what you’re posted unless you invite them.
Hopefully this is the first step towards using an account on multiple devices.
you already can. Desktop and iPad both have official apps from Signal, on android you can use Molly
