The Signal messaging app is probably a favorite among those who want to keep their conversations safe and secure but still easy to use. It’s an almost perfect app, except for the fact that its desktop version is actually a sort of Chrome browser extension. Well, they have finally heard users’ requests as they are officially launching the Standalone Signal Desktop which you can use on your Mac or Windows desktop, independent of any browser and probably more secure than ever since you can use it on its own.
The Signal Desktop is a great companion for your mobile app as you can send and receive messages from the comfort of your laptop or desktop. You experience the same ease of messaging as on your mobile device, but only this time you can use all ten fingers to type your replies away. If you’re not yet familiar with Signal, you should probably check it out as it’s considered one of the more popular messaging apps that aren’t named Viber or Messenger or WhatsApp. It has all the usual features of a messaging app, including disappearing messages, video calling, and of course end-to-end encryption.
If you’ve been using the Signal Desktop on your Chrome browser, you can export your data and then transfer it to the new app that you will download. During the set-up process, it will ask you if you already have an account and it will transfer all your contacts and conversations. If it’s the first time for you to use the desktop version, download it first and then pair it with your smartphone.
Signal Desktop is available for Windows 64-bit: 7, 8, 8.1, and 10, MacOS 10.9 and above, and Linux distributions that support APT, like Ubuntu or Debian.
SOURCE: Signal
