After a testing phase carried out by the developers, Signal confirmed something new that had been in the air for some time.
The well-known messaging app, in fact, has announced that it wants to “untie” its use from phone numbersopting for an account-based system Public Username.
In a post on their blog, the Signal developers invited users to test this change through a staging environmentwhich offers a sort of parallel platform where you can register a new account to test not only this update, but also other changes made to the app.
In this sense we also talk about the possibility of change message formattingand access to the complete history of changes to them.
That said, it was clarified how the changes are being implemented and how bugs and malfunctions can easily occur in the staging context.
Usernames instead of phone numbers? Signal has been working on this solution for years
The switch from telephone numbers to usernames is aimed at offering a greater level of security, allowing account creation without registering via the telephone number. In reality, this innovation is not a surprise: through the feedback received, in fact, Signal had already foreseen this introduction in 2019then working for a long time for its effective implementation.
The extended times were a complex introduction to implement but which, according to the platform, allows the app to work without collecting or storing sensitive information from individual users. The same Meredith Whittakerpresident of the Signal Foundation, admitted how “This took some time to do because it’s a major architectural overhaul“.
Although Signal is still less used than its competition (Telegram e WhatsApp above all), the app is continuing to develop, trying to distinguish itself from these competitors, leveraging above all on aspects such as security and privacy. The adoption of Public Usernames certainly marks a further step in this direction.
