Privacy-focused messaging app signal announced on Monday that it will introduce the ability for users to back up text conversations for free along with the last 45 days of media. It also debuts its first paid feature by offering a complete media backup with up to 100GB of storage.
Historically, messaging apps have not allowed users to store backups of any kind of your conversation on the platform. This can be especially troublesome if you lose or break your phone. You can transfer conversations from one cell phone to another, but there was no cloud backup. The new feature will ultimately solve that problem and make Signal a more valuable app for secure messaging.
Signal's Free Tier offers 100MB of text messages storage and 100MB of storage for media for the past 45 days. In a blog post, the company said it saves the message after compressing it, and 100MB is enough for “heavy” users.
For users who want to store media for more than the last 45 days, the company offers a paid plan for $1.99 per month with 100GB of storage.
This is Signal's first paid feature, and the company said it is charging users to help with the cost of storage in a way that provides privacy.
You can enable the secure backup feature from the app settings and then start backing up your content daily.
Signal uses zero knowledge technology to protect your backups, so you are not linked to a specific user or a specific payment method. The user receives a 64-character recovery key generated on the device to unlock the backup. Within signal rivals, WhatsApp offers end-to-end backups via optional features that users must enable.
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At launch, Signal only offers this feature in the beta version of the Android app, but said that cross-platform availability will soon be happening. He said in the future he plans to allow users to store backup archives anywhere. Additionally, we plan to enable users to forward message history across platforms.