Signal escapes the confines of the browser with a standalone desktop app

If you’re an active Signal user (and why aren’t you?) you likely already know about the desktop app — or what passes for one. It’s actually the Chrome App, requiring Google’s browser to function. Well, that nightmare is over, as Signal has released a standalone app with no troubling dependencies on billion-dollar companies.

The app is available today for Windows 64-bit systems 7 and up, MacOS 10.9 and up and many favorite flavors of Linux.

Users who already have the Chrome App installed can port their data over during the setup process, so they might want to sign in to the old version first just to make sure it’s all authenticated and so on.

When we talked to Signal creator Moxie Marlinspike this summer at Disrupt, he said there were a few major features coming down the line but declined to name them; well, here’s one!