I’ve used Signal on my phone for several years now, since some of my friends use it. It’s always supported Android yet recently I learned they also support Windows, Mac and Linux. Combined with being secure and open source, it’s becoming my go-to messaging app all around.

Video calls work smoothly on this Ubuntu desktop, as well as on my Android phone which runs LineageOS 22 (Android 15).

To install on your phone or tablet, simply get it from the standard app stores.

To install it on Windows or MacOS, go to the site (linked above) to get the download and follow the usual steps.

How to install it on Linux:

First get the app key and store it locally:

wget -O- https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt/keys.asc | gpg --dearmor > signal-desktop-keyring.gpg

Next add the key to your local keyring:

cat signal-desktop-keyring.gpg | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/signal-desktop-keyring.gpg > /dev/null

Next, add the Signal repo to your local list:

echo 'deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/signal-desktop-keyring.gpg] https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/signal-xenial.list

Finally, install the Signal app from the repo:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install signal-desktop