20 Best Useful Features of Signal App You Should Know

Jan. 13, 2021

We’ve started off with features you would find on any of theWhatsApp alternativesand moved on to features that are unique to Signal. Read on till the end to find out all the best Signal features. In case you’re looking for clarity on specific features, feel free to jump to that particular section using the table of contents button below.

Through Signal, you cansend text messages, images, videos, GIFs, voice notes, contacts, location, and stickers. You also have the ability to quote particular messages, use message reactions, send one-time viewable images and videos, and use disappearing messages. However,you won’t find the option to star important messages.

You can, however, send important messages to the ‘Note to Self’ section where you are just talking to yourself. If you’re not a huge fan of the default theme Signal applies in your chat, you have the option to choose from a total of 13 chat colors from the profile page of a contact.

Signal group chats can accommodate a total of 1000 members. The secure messaging app offers most of the features you find in other messaging apps including admin approval, mentions, admin controls for user management, group info editing, and disappearing messages.

To invite friends toswitch from WhatsApp to Signal, you can generate and share group invite links. While you can’tmute chats foreverlike WhatsApp just yet, you have the option to mute chats for up to a year. In case you want to ask a question to a specific member of the group, you can utilize the @ mentions feature to tag them.

Just like WhatsApp,you can archive chats on Signal and access them from the bottom of the app’s home screen. To archive, long-press a chat, and tap on the Archive button. However, the caveat is that archived chats will come out of the archive if you get a new message on both archived personal chats and groups. I never really liked this approach on WhatsApp and I’m not amused with this implementation on Signal either. It is worth mentioning that archived chats stay on archive regardless of new messages on Telegram.

You can pin important chats and groups to the top of the home screen on Signal. The featuresupports a total of four chats. You’ll find the option to pin chats after long-pressing one of the chats. This is convenient to quickly access important chats and it is nice to see the feature on Signal.

If you’re accustomed to audio and video calls on WhatsApp, you’ll be glad to know that Signal supports both of these features in personal chats and groups. While group calling was limited to 5 members before,Signal has recentlyincreased the limit to 8. This expansion makes it on par withWhatsApp’s group call limit.

Signal offers the ability to send and receive stickers. You can discover stickers by searching with the #makeprivacystick hashtag or fromSignal Stickers– an unofficial source for adding new stickers to Signal. While you can (unofficially) send animated stickers on Signal right now, the company hasannounced plans to officially support animated stickersover the coming days. However,stickers don’t support quoted replies at this moment.

Voice notes don’t need an introduction if you are coming from WhatsApp. You cantap and hold the mic button to record a voice noteand release to send it or slide to the left to cancel it. You also have the option to swipe up to lock the voice note to go hands-free.

I don’t know about you, but the first thing I do when I install any app isenable dark mode(if it doesn’t support system-wide dark mode toggle). You can enable dark mode on Signal fromSettings-> Appearance -> Theme.

In case you send a message by mistake, you canrevoke within 3 hours using the Delete for everyone option. To delete messages, long-press the message, and tap on ‘Delete for Everyone’. Signal will show a ‘You deleted this message’ indicator to let the recipient know that you’ve deleted a message.

Although you can’t see a person’s online status on Signal,you can see typing indicators and read receipts. You can enable or disable both of these features fromSettings -> Privacy -> Typing IndicatorsandSettings -> Privacy -> Read Receiptsrespectively.

Message Reactions is a boon for anyone who feels guilty for not responding to a message when you don’t have anything to say. Thanks to Instagram’s double-tap feature on DMs, message reaction is now considered a valid response if you don’t want to continue the conversation. While WhatsApp doesn’t offer message reactions, Signal has this convenient feature. You canlong-press any message and choose one of the emojis.

Signal has got you covered if you can’t resist sharing messages across multiple groups.To forward a message, long-press it, and tap on the Forward buttonpresent to the top right corner of the screen.

To tweak the font size, open Signal and navigate toSettings -> Chats and media -> Message font size. The available customization options are Small, Normal, Large, and Extra Large.

Signal has a useful storage management tool to help users free up space. Accessed fromSettings -> Storagewithin Signal, the tool lists content by media, files, and audio. You can sort files by newest, oldest, or the storage used. The interface is similar toWhatsApp’s new storage management tool.

Disabling auto-download helps you save data and avoid getting your gallery cluttered by media from group chats. You can access the feature fromSettings -> Chats and media -> Media auto-download.

Disappearing messages, as the name suggests, expires after a specific time period. UnlikeWhatsApp’s half-baked disappearing messages that self-destruct after 7 days, you cancustomize the duration from 5 seconds to 1 weekon Signal. The message you sent will disappear as soon as the timer ends, but that doesn’t mean that the person has read it. The recipient’s timer starts after they’ve opened the message.

Signal uses Signal protocol for end-to-end encryption. Signal even encrypts metadata, thanks toSignal’s sealed senderfeature. If you’re worried about privacy, you can rest assured that all conversations you make in Signal are end-to-end encrypted. It is undoubtedly one of thebest secure messaging appsyou can use right now.

If you’re not using one of theapp lockers, you can use Signal’s screen lock to secure the app and avoid others from accessing it without your permission.  On a similar note, Signal uses a PIN to enable non-phone number based identifiers. You can change your Signal PIN fromSettings -> Privacy -> Signal PIN. If you’re annoyed how Signal keeps asking you the PIN (so that you don’t forget), you candisable PIN reminders from the same location by flipping the ‘PIN reminders’ toggle.

Signal shows message requests where you canchoose to accept, block, or delete the message when someone who’s not on your contact list contacts you. If you often get unsolicited messages, this feature should come in handy to help avoid unwanted interactions without wasting your time.Image: Signal

Your Signal data including messages, images, and files arestored locally on your device. If you bought a new phone and are interested to move your Signal data to the new device, you can create a backup and restore it. You can create a backup fromSettings -> Chats and media -> Chat backups. You’ll find step-by-step instructions in our guide to help youback up and restore Signal chats on Android.

Use the Best Signal Features on Your Phone

As you can see, Signal offers almost all the features that WhatsApp has to offer, with better privacy. You might also find something useful from our article on thebest Signal tips and tricks. If you haven’t moved to Signal yet, do not forget to check out ourWhatsApp vs Telegram vs Signal comparison. And if you prefer Telegram after reading that article, make sure to read our article on moving fromWhatsApp to Telegram.

Subin writes about consumer tech, software, and security. He secretly misses the headphone jack while pretending he’s better off with the wireless freedom.