Switching From WhatsApp To Signal? Check Out 5 Cool Features Probably You Didn't Know

Of late, Signal is witnessing a huge influx of users who are switching from WhatsApp. Well, the new privacy policy that users are forced to accept to continue using WhatsApp is the one to blame and it is making users who do not want to share further data to switch to other apps. This movement is boosted further as well-known people such as Elon Musk of Tesla also took to Twitter to promote the use of Signal.

While many people move to Signal as it is touted to be the most private messaging service, that is not all with it. There are many other features that it has and you might not know all of that. Well, check out what five cool features of Signal that you probably didn't know.

Screen Lock

Signal lets you set up a screen lock so that your conversations are not vulnerable to prying eyes even if the phone is unlocked. Well, you can choose between PIN or biometric lock to access the Signal app. To set a screen lock on Signal, head on to Settings -> Privacy -> Toggle Screen Lock on.

Stop Notifications Of New Members

If you are an early user of Signal, then you will receive notifications informing you about whoever has joined Signal. If you have a lot of contacts, then it could be annoying to get these joining notifications. Interestingly, you can stop the same by turning off these notifications so that you don't get bombarded with too many messages.

Blur Faces

If you are worried about privacy and do not want to send photos of people sans their consent, then there is an interesting option in Signal. Well, the messaging service lets you share photos with blurred faces. While the manual editing of these photos is quite tedious and time consuming, you can do the same easily with the automatic face blurring tool. You can also swipe out additional parts of the screen that you like to blur that will be useful while sending ID documents to others.

You can do this by tapping the + sign and tapping on the picture that you want to send. Now, tap on the Blur button and toggle the option stating Blur faced. Notably, you can draw anywhere on the screen using your finger to blur.

Disappearing Message

The new feature that WhatsApp rolled out to its users, disappearing messages is also available on Signal. Well, the app has been having the disappearing messages feature for quite some time. As the name indicates, these messages have a set time limit and the messages will be deleted beyond that. This way, the conversations are private.

To send disappearing messages on Signal, you can click on the specific contact's name and toggle the Disappearing Messages option on. Slide the timer that lets you choose the time limit for the message to last.

Attachment Time Limit

While disappearing messages sets a time limit for the messages, there is another feature that lets you set how many times an attachment can be opened. If you set it for once, then the photos and videos you send can be viewed only once and then the attachment will disappear. Notably, the recipient can view the attachment even after days or weeks but once it is opened, it will disappear.

To send attachments with a time limit, click on the + sign and tap on the picture that you want to send. Now, tap on the infinity icon at the bottom left corner. That's it.