Elon Musk has launched XChat to rival WhatsApp, enabling privacy features like end-to-end encryption, screenshot blocking, and disappearing messages. The XChat app currently allows users to only chat with X users, limiting its reach. The app has been launched amidst the ongoing controversy surrounding WhatsApp and its end-to-end encryption being questioned. The launch arrives as WhatsApp finds itself mired in a growing legal battle over the very privacy promises it has long made to its billions of users.
What is XChat?
Platform X has officially launched a brand-new, standalone communication app called XChat. Initially available exclusively for iOS users, this release serves as Elon Musk's direct declaration of war against Meta's dominant messaging giants, Messenger and WhatsApp. Focusing entirely on user-to-user communication, XChat strips away the noise of social media feeds to provide a dedicated messaging experience.
The app supports 46 languages and only requires an X account to sign up. This app will help users connect their existing X contacts for calling, chatting, and sharing files. The app is currently available only for iOS users.
XChat: Key features amd what's different?
The dedicated app offers end-to-end encrypted private chats, file sharing, and calls, with features like disappearing messages and screenshot blocking.
Additional capabilities include:
- Full message control, allowing users to edit or completely delete messages for all participants in a conversation
- Disappearing messages for highly sensitive, ephemeral conversations
- ad-free experience with a strict no-advertising policy
- zero tracking, with the platform promising no hidden tracking mechanisms.
With a minimalist interface, it will support voice and video calls. The group capacity on this app is approximately 481 people.
XChat is built using Rust
Musk has been vocal about the technical underpinnings of XChat. According to Musk, XChat is built using Rust, a programming language that's known for being secure and reliable, and he has claimed that XChat uses a 'Bitcoin-style encryption system.'
XChat also replaces the Communities feature, which is being discontinued due to low usage and spam. According to X's lead designer Benji Taylor, XChat is "just the beginning of what we're building for messaging," hinting at future updates and expanded features.
