Social network X launches encrypted messaging and video calling chat application

Billionaire Elon Musk's social network X (formerly Twitter) has just launched Chat, an encrypted upgrade to the platform's direct messaging service. Chat also supports video and voice calling, self-destructing messages and file sharing.

The company announced Chat on Friday, which is now available on iOS and the web, with an Android version coming “soon.” Chat replaces X’s current messaging system, but users’ old messages will be transferred to the new system.

Chat application for social network X users launched.

X says Chat supports end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for both messages and files, but a support page notes that this feature doesn't include message metadata — like who the recipient is or when it was sent.

Additionally, there is currently no protection against man-in-the-middle attacks, with the company admitting that if “a malicious insider or X himself” were to infiltrate an encrypted conversation, users would not be able to detect it. However, methods for authenticating messages and identifying devices will be added in the future.

X Chat is available for iOS now and will be coming to Android soon.

Other security features include self-destructing messages, which can be set to automatically delete after a certain period of time, along with the option to receive notifications when a conversation is screenshotted or block screenshots altogether.

Users can edit and delete messages, and voice and video calling are supported, with voice recording coming soon.

X — formerly Twitter — first introduced encrypted direct messages in 2023, before pausing the feature this past May to make “improvements.” Those improvements appear to have been built into Chat.