The installation is entirely straightforward. You’ll find the app in the Google Play Store and on the App Store. When you install and sign up for Signal you must supply your cellphone number. Any of the contacts in your cellphone address book who are Signal users will automatically appear as contacts in Signal—because Signal recognizes their<\/em> cellphone numbers.<\/p>\n

You can choose to have Signal secured using a PIN or, if your cellphone has a fingerprint reader, by your fingerprint. You can also choose to have screenshots blocked when Signal is on-screen, to prevent images from being grabbed with conversations in them. As yet another security precaution, you can also choose to have your encrypted messages relayed through Signal’s servers. This masks your IP address.<\/p>\n

There’s little merit in a blow-by-blow account of how to use Signal because it’s the same as the messenger app you’re using now. You have a list of contacts and group chats, you select one and start typing. You can send text, emojis, stickers, gifs, and images.<\/p>\n