Stickers Are the Next Big Breakthrough in Secure Messaging

PC Magazine Senior Software Analyst Max Eddy has also written for publications such as International Digital Times, International Science Times, and The Mary Sue.

The encrypted messaging app Signal recently made an enormous upgrade to its apps that could change everything about encrypted services. It added stickers. Now, it would be easy to dismiss this innovation as pointless—even frivolous. But it’s exactly because these stickers are frivolous that this is so important.

SIGNAL’S STICKERS

It was surprisingly easy to ignore this earthshattering event. That’s partly because of the weird way in which you’re supposed to find the sticker packs. Instead of a centralized store, like the one Apple uses in its Messages app, Signal has a more anarchic system: Though the company hosts the stickers, they’re uploaded by individuals, and there’s no single place to seek them out.

Instead, the stickers spread virally. When someone sends you a sticker, you can tap and see the rest of the pack. If you like it, you can download the whole thing and add it to your sticker palette. While some unofficial Signal sticker search engines have popped up, the best way to find one seems to be searching the hashtag #makeprivacystick on Twitter. Hopefully, that will change.

True to form, Signal delivers something fun with a hefty dose of encryption. From a Signal blog post: