WhatsApp’s revelation of its new privacy policy has made many of its users’ shift to other messaging platforms. Users collectively objected this. This made WhatsApp to shift the implementation date from 8th of February.
WhatsApp in its new privacy policy has claimed that it will share the user’s WhatsApp account registration, phone number, service-related information, transaction data, IP address, and much other private information with its parent app, i.e. Facebook.
This new privacy policy created a big buzz among WhatsApp users and they unitedly objected to this policy on different social media platforms. Many of its users are shifting to platforms like Telegram and Signal. A tweet from Elon Musk stating “USE SIGNAL”, has made the majority of the users of messaging apps shift to Signal.
How to switch from WhatsApp to signal?
The signal is a messaging app with a centralized encrypted messaging service. It was developed by the Signal Technology foundation and Signal Messenger LLC. You can send one-to-one messages to people in the form of images, videos, voice notes, and files. It can run on all platforms, IOS, desktop, and Android as well.
Though the app was launched back in 2014, it is only now that it has gained a buzz. Many people are thinking of switching to this platform. Here’s how you could switch from WhatsApp to signal.
Download or install the Signal app on your device
You need to install the Signal app on your device. You can download it from Google play store or Apple iStore. The app is platform-independent and thus runs on every device.
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Enter the mobile number
Once the app is downloaded on your device, you need to open the app. The screen that pops-up asks for your mobile number. Enter the mobile number with which you want to create a signal account.
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Enter verification code
Once you enter your mobile number, another screen will be displayed, which will ask for a verification code. The verification code would have been sent to your entered mobile number. Enter the verification code and press enter.
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Create a security pin
The screen that comes up will ask you to create a pin for your signal account. You will have to enter this pin each time you enter the account. Though it is not mandatory, it is always advised to create a strong Alpha-numeric password for your account. The pin must be at least four-digit long.
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Complete your profile
You can now move forward with creating your profile on your account. You will be asked to add a username and a profile picture to your account.
Username is generally expected to be your first name, but you can keep the any name that you want to be displayed. You can also keep an emoji as your username. The first name column is mandatory while the last name column is an optional one.
Once you complete your profile, click save and move on.
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Start chatting
The main page now comes up. You can now start chatting with your friends, family, and relatives. Click on the pencil icon placed on the bottom right (in Android) or upper-right ( on iOS) and search for the contact. To invite your selected contact click on invite button. Along with individuals, Signal allows you to have group conversations as well.
How to import your message chats from WhatsApp to signal?
Due to security reasons, if you are thinking of shifting the platform from WhatsApp to signal, you must want to import messages. Though there is no direct way to import your WhatsApp messages, after vivid research we have found two not-so-popular options.
Option 1- iMazing
iMazing is the best option to save all your WhatsApp messages. You could search and read your regular chats through iMazing. iMazing takes the data from the local backup available at your computer and turns the WhatsApp backup into the Chat-like format similar to the WhatsApp format.
iMazing is a paid option. It costs $44.99 to export the data from two devices. If you increase the number of devices, the price increases accordingly. If you do not have a computer or an iPhone, iMazing would not work.
Option 2- WhatsApp chat parser
It allows you to see your WhatsApp chats in web format. You can easily find your messages and reference to use chats using this option. This option does not have media support, thus you will have to export WhatsApp’s media to find the reference to your chats.
This option is available for free and is platform-independent as well. Thus this is considered to be the better option of the two.
Final Words
WhatsApp was considered to be one of the safest messaging platforms. Though, the scenario is not the same anymore. Signal has proved to be a good replacement for WhatsApp. Almost all the features of WhatsApp have been incorporated in Signal. You could send videos, photos, and text messages, and stay connected with your friends and family.
