A practical guide to private, safer community chats on Signal

The Verge’s guide explains how to use Signal for community organizing while protecting privacy: start by setting up a Signal account with a username, then enable privacy features (hide your phone number, enable screen locking and screen security, enable incognito keyboard, and set disappearing messages by default). You can disguise the app icon on Android and hide your IP by enabling Always relay calls. For private group chats, require admin approval for new members and vet newcomers (in-person exchanges or multiple members vouching). For semi-public groups, you can invite via a link but restrict posting. In open public groups, post carefully—If you wouldn’t say it in court, don’t say it in one of those chats—and remember that end-to-end encryption protects message content but not metadata. Use safety numbers to verify contacts, nicknames to keep track of trusted people, and features like view-once media to reduce metadata. An update notes the iOS “hide screen in app switcher” feature.