Last week, I explained three advanced Signal techniques. By popular demand (well, a population of one), this time I’ll introduce another ten simple and easy-to-use secret tricks. Feel free to “self-test” and see how familiar you are with Signal, on a scale of 0-10.
0. Disappearing messages
Message self-destruction is a widely known feature of Signal. Users who don’t use it probably think the convenience of searching old messages is more important than privacy. To set a self-destruct timer for messages, in a specific contact’s chat window, tap the menu in the top right corner ➛ Chat settings ➛ Disappearing messages, then select an appropriate retention period.
I take it a step further: I tap my profile picture to enter settings, select Privacy ➛ Default timer for new chats, and set new conversations to self-destruct after four weeks by default. If I want an exception, I modify it in the individual chat window. This is not only based on a “privacy first” principle but also about living in the moment. Too much data is like no data at all; rather than storing everything, it’s better to properly save only important messages when you encounter them.
1. Editing/Deleting Messages
If you accidentally send the wrong message, you can long-press the chat bubble and select Edit or Delete to correct or remove it. If a message is edited after being sent, the other person will see “Edited” next to it. If a message is deleted after being sent, the other person will see “This message was deleted.” In other words, they will know you sent a message.
Considering that if the other person has already read or is currently reading the message, they might overlook the update, I usually avoid using the Edit function. I’d rather send an additional message to make the correction. Besides, occasionally misspeaking and correcting it in the next sentence is more in line with the habits of daily conversation and feels more natural.
2. Read Receipts
Signal, by default, displays a solid double-check mark to indicate a message has been read. Probably due to the “if you leave someone on read, your whole family dies” curse, many friends who usually don’t care about privacy will deliberately turn off the read receipts and typing indicator options. The method is to tap your profile picture, select Privacy, and turn off the Read receipts and Typing indicators settings.
The principle of equivalent exchange still applies here: if you prevent others from seeing if you’ve read their messages, you also won’t be able to see if they’ve read yours.
3. Note to Self
Every Signal user has one contact: themselves. Sending messages to yourself is equivalent to writing notes. You’ll probably ask, why go to so much trouble instead of just using apps like Notes or Keep? The answer, again, is encryption.
Imagine this scenario: you need to enter a seed phrase into Metamask on your phone, but the seed phrase is stored on your computer. How do you send such important information to your phone? Just install Signal on both devices, log in to the same account, send a disappearing message to yourself from the computer, and then receive it on your phone. This way, you can transfer the seed phrase from one device to another while ensuring the process is end-to-end encrypted. However, besides end-to-end encryption, you also need to pay attention to the security of the phone itself. TikTok was previously exposed for constantly reading users’ clipboard data. If you’ve ever copied and pasted a seed phrase into Metamask on an iPhone, TikTok might have already seen it all. In 2020, Apple updated to iOS 14, which issues a notification when apps read clipboard content, and only then was TikTok’s misconduct exposed. And if you’re using a heavily modified (“modded”) Android, there are even more apps to watch out for.
I always pin “Note to Self” to keep the chat thread at the top, talking to myself whenever I feel like it.
4. Scheduled Send
Having just spoken ill of Android, let me share a feature that the iOS version doesn’t have: scheduled send. After typing a message, long-press the paper airplane send button, and you can set it to be sent in the future. Particularly considerate users might think of using this to avoid disturbing others by sending messages late at night. However, most people these days know to turn off notifications when appropriate; I’ve had all my notifications and calls turned off for I don’t know how many years. So, a more useful function for scheduled messages might be to delay sending a report so your boss thinks you worked late into the night, or for a boss to “pretend to work” for their subordinates. Who knows, it might even help a mystery novelist design the perfect murder plot, creating an alibi for the culprit!
Okay, there are more serious uses too, such as using it with the aforementioned “Note to Self” to send yourself reminders at specific times.
5. Screen Lock & Registration Lock
Just as you should lock your home when you go out, if your messages are as important as your household valuables, you should lock Signal when switching apps or closing it. The setup method is: tap your profile picture ➛ Privacy, turn on Screen lock, and choose the activation duration.
Besides the screen lock, Signal also offers a registration lock. Registering the same phone number on another device will require a PIN to unlock; otherwise, you’ll have to wait seven days for a reset, and all records, such as contacts, will be erased. With “irresistible force”, telecom companies can be compelled to cooperate, and state machinery has the capability to forcibly take over your account. However, if the registration lock is enabled, hijacking the account will take seven days, and the obtained account will have lost all its data.
As mentioned last time, using a username to identify yourself and avoid disclosing your phone number is a further step to effectively prevent account hijacking by such irresistible forces.
6. Local Backups
Unlike Facebook Messenger and other instant messaging apps that still store messages I sent over a decade ago, Signal does not store any user messages on its servers. This can be inconvenient in some situations, but as I said last time, “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.”
If you need to migrate messages, pictures, etc., to a new device, Android users can back up Signal conversations locally. The message backup is encrypted with a 30-digit passphrase. After installing Signal on the new device, you must provide this key to migrate the original messages. This option can be found in Settings ➛ Chats ➛ Chat backups. As for the iOS version, although there’s no Chat backups option, if you have both your old and new iPhones and haven’t removed Signal from the original one, you can also transfer messages to the new iPhone.
However, if you’re switching between the Android and iPhone ecosystems, you currently cannot retain your communication history. It’s not a feature.
7. Call Links
If you’re an intellectual, and the regime in your area suppresses freedom of thought and speech like the Kuomintang during the martial law era, you can move your gatherings online. However, be aware that digital does not equal anonymous; there’s no necessary connection between the two. For example, Telegram chats are unencrypted plaintext by default.
To ensure all conversations in your gathering are end-to-end encrypted, in Signal, tap Call at the bottom, then select Create a Call Link. Copy the link and send it to attendees via Signal. The Call Link feature is similar to meeting links on Zoom and Google Meet, but the biggest difference is still privacy: regardless of the circumstances, Signal always upholds the principle of end-to-end encryption.
8. View Once Media
When sharing photos with friends, after selecting the photo, tap the infinity symbol “∞” next to “Add a message.” The symbol will change to “1,” and the description will become “View once media.” Then, the recipient will only be able to open the photo once and cannot rewatch it.
You must note that this feature only protects against gentlemen, not villains. If the other person wants to take a screenshot, there’s nothing you can do. Don’t blame Signal for not considering this thoroughly; after all, even if screenshots are blocked on the client-side, the other person can still use another phone to take a picture of the screen—it makes no difference. If you don’t trust the other person, don’t even send a view-once picture.
9. MobileCoin
Signal has its own MobileCoin (MOB), but few people use it. Unlike mainstream options like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins, MobileCoin is a privacy coin. Transaction details are fully encrypted, making it a “crypto” currency in the truest sense. Privacy coins like Monero and Zcash are widely suppressed by various governments and are difficult to cash out, and MobileCoin is no exception. There’s a lot to discuss regarding MobileCoin and the controversy surrounding Signal’s choice to use it—enough for a whole article—so I’ll stop here.
Although MobileCoin isn’t popular, if you want to try it, you can go to Settings ➛ Payments ➛ Activate Payments, and activate it after accepting the user agreement. Like other cryptocurrencies, the wallet comes with a 24-word seed phrase. Keep this seed phrase safe, and you can manage the wallet independently of your Signal account.
10. Donate to Signal
Ugh, you saw right through me. This is the 11th one, and it’s not a technique.
Or perhaps, selecting “Donate to Signal” in the settings page, to support this communication marvel that prioritizes privacy, is free, and has no ads with concrete actions—is this the “usage technique” that most needs to be widely publicized?
Further Reading: Don’t Say You Know How to Use Signal Without Knowing These 3 Tricks
P.S. Besides being socially awkward, I’m also a PR idiot. like.community was just a pet project of LikeCoin’s that was never officially launched. Notifying a small number of users about its shutdown would have been enough. But I, thinking I should see things through to the end, made a big deal of writing an article to announce it, also intending to document the changes in blog culture—basically, asking for trouble. The result was widespread misunderstanding that “like.community” referred to the LikeCoin community, and that its shutdown meant the end of LikeCoin. Minor consequences included letters of comfort and inquiry; major ones involved people selling off large amounts of LikeCoin as their best option. Only then did I realize I had far overestimated my ability to explain things, or readers’ patience for details, or both. How on earth can I make it clear that LikeCoin is not only not dying but is also about to upgrade to v3 and take big strides forward? Please, you PR idiot, this should have been in the title, not after a lengthy article!
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