Elon Musk’s XChat App Resembles Facebook Messenger More Than Signal
▼ Summary
– Elon Musk promoted XChat by reposting criticism of Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram, and iMessage, claiming XChat is the only secure encrypted messaging app.
– Encryption experts expressed cautious skepticism about XChat, with some defending Signal and noting that linking an X account to XChat raises privacy concerns.
– Security experts criticized XChat for storing cryptographic keys on X’s servers rather than on-device, and recommended thorough outside auditing before use.
– XChat’s launch was chaotic, with multiple date changes, a scam app appearing in search results, and inconsistent regional availability.
– The app feels like an insular extension of X, as users need an X account and many contacts lack X accounts, limiting its practical use for messaging.
Elon Musk spent his Friday resharing criticism of rival platforms after the launch of XChat, a standalone messaging app for X users. “Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram, and iMessage all have serious security problems,” read one post he amplified, adding that “XChat is the only secure, encrypted messaging app.” Encryption experts I consulted before the launch expressed cautious skepticism about XChat’s execution and defended alternatives like Signal as reliable options.
A major red flag: users must connect an existing X account to log in and start messaging. “I’m a little suspicious of that, because the more data points you connect together about a person, the more you can track what they’re doing,” says Maria Villegas Bravo, counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Bravo views Musk’s past attacks on other apps as both concerning and self-serving.
Last year, when Musk first pitched XChat as a revamped, encrypted version of X’s direct messages, security experts questioned the wisdom of storing users’ cryptographic keys on X’s servers rather than on-device, as Signal does. “Given XChat’s history of security vulnerabilities, I would hesitate to use this until it’s received a thorough outside auditing,” says Cooper Quintin, a senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
While Musk wants the debate to be about which encrypted messaging app is best,XChat vs. Signal vs. WhatsApp,that framing misses the mark. After downloading XChat and testing it hands-on, I found a much less exciting comparison: Facebook Messenger. You know, that app you keep on your phone mostly to message your grandma out of obligation? Exactly. Rather than delivering a sleek, new encrypted messaging tool, Musk released an insular, clunky extension of his social media platform that happens to include encrypted messaging.
A Rocky Launch
When the XChat team announced the app’s wide release earlier this month, the “expected” launch date on Apple’s App Store was April 17. That date shifted multiple times, moving to April 23, then April 24. It also showed April 25 and April 27 as potential dates before unexpectedly dropping on Friday the 24th. (An Android launch date has yet to be announced.)
During this prelaunch period, searching for the app didn’t always yield the right result. An unrelated app also named “XChat App,” with a Russian-language interface and no connection to Musk, climbed to at least the seventh spot on Apple’s free download charts in the social media category. “Scam app,” read one user review. “This is not the real XChat.”
When the real XChat finally arrived, the launch felt haphazard. Initially, users in the US could access the app, while those in the UK could not. “UK should be live soon; had one snag,” wrote Nikita Bier, head of product at X, in response to frustrated social media posts. When early downloaders also complained about confusion during onboarding, Bier told them to “blame Apple” and its app requirements.
First Impressions
When I first opened XChat, I wasn’t sure who to message. Scanning my iMessage history, none of my top five most-texted friends and family members even have X accounts. Right from the start, XChat felt too niche for my actual messaging needs, encryption concerns aside.
Lost and searching for anyone to chat with, I spent my afternoon scrolling through old DMs and decided to revive three previous conversations. After I sent my nudges, a pop-up appeared in the chat logs: “This conversation is now end-to-end encrypted.” I didn’t really need it, though, because no one texted me back during my testing. I only received pitiful heart and flame emoji reactions to my messages.
(Source: Wired)
