xChat hits iOS App Store April 17 — Musk's Signal rival
X's standalone encrypted messaging app lands on iPhone next week with E2E encryption, no phone number needed, and zero ads.
xChat — Elon Musk's dedicated messaging spin-off from X — is dropping on the App Store April 17. The app went into TestFlight beta on March 3, filling its initial capacity within two hours. Now it's pre-orderable ahead of full release.
Feature set reads like a direct challenge to Signal and WhatsApp: full end-to-end encryption, no phone number required to sign up, unlimited file sharing, disappearing messages, screenshot blocking, and massive group chats — all ad-free with no tracking.
Unlike X DMs baked into the main app, xChat is a standalone app purpose-built for private conversation. It lets users chat with anyone on X without needing to open the firehose of the main feed.
Why it matters: Musk is quietly building an everything-app moat — and a privacy-first messaging layer, if it holds up to scrutiny, could pull users away from established players faster than expected.
Sources
Independent coverage
- XChat to Launch on iPhone, iPad Next Week — Is It Secure? techtimes.com
- X begins testing standalone X Chat app on iOS techcrunch.com
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