username

“How Signal Revolutionized Its Architecture for Enhanced Privacy: An Inside Look into the Latest Update”

Meredith Whittaker 3
Adding usernames to a messaging app may seem like a standard feature, but for Signal, such identifiers were anathema to its mission of total privacy and security — until now. The new feature sounds simple: you register a username and that appears instead of your phone number. But why do this at all when everyone already has contact names, and Signal is totally private anyway? That is not just happening in India, we’re seeing a number of jurisdictions where to obtain a phone number, you are required to provide more and more personal information. But it replaces the phone number when you go to initiate contact.” (Signal does append numbers to chosen usernames to ensure they are unique.)

“Enhance Your Mastodon Experience: Share Your Profile on Android with QR Code”

Qr Code Mastodon
Decentralized social network Mastodon has updated its official app for Android to let users easily share their profiles with QR Codes. To share the QR code, users can go to their profile tab and tap the QR icon next to their name to get a code related to the profile others can scan. Mastodon has also updated prompts for blocking and muting to explain the effects of taking those actions on a profile. Users trying out Mastodon have complained about the complicated nature of having different servers on the ActivityPub network. The company will have to work on making it easier for users to understand and navigate the decentralized social world.

“Maintain Your Privacy on Signal: Introducing Usernames to Secure Your Phone Number”

Signal Usernames
Up until now, you have had to give someone your phone number to chat with them on Signal. Signal still requires a phone number when registering for the app. Instead, they’re just a quick way to connect with someone on the app without sharing your phone number. However, if you still want people to see your phone number when you message them, you can change the default setting in your “Phone Number” settings. Signal is also introducing a new privacy setting that will let you control who can find you on the app with your phone number.