How to Activate Disappearing Messages in Signal

Not satisfied with the Facebook-owned WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy has left many seeking alternative messaging apps? The Signal Messenger might be your best bet. The open-source messaging app has a number of rich features including its end-to-end encryption that ensures your calls and texts are secured. Only recently, Whatsapp introduced the disappearing message features that ensure your messages are automatically deleted after seven days when activated.

Whatsapp isn’t the only platform offering such rich features. You can as well send Disappearing Messages in Signal. Perhaps, that could be a reason you might want to switch from Whatsapp.

Much like every other instant messenger with the feature, the disappearing Messages feature in Signal when activated will wipe out chats between you and your partner after a specified time frame. Unlike what obtains with Whatsapp, where messages are set to disappear in 7 days, Signal has made it possible for users to set the preferred time for messages to disappear. That gives you much control over the chats and photos you have exchanged with friends and family.

How long do messages stay on Signal?

The time frame ranges from 5seconds up to a maximum of 1 week. With this, you can have control over sensitive info you exchange with your friends as the conversations are deleted from both ends. As interesting as that sounds, there is, however, the chances that you contact can be that clever to screenshot or copy and paste your chat conversation somewhere for reference. Some users can even go to the extent of employing another device, maybe a secondary smartphone to take a photo of the disappearing material in question.

That is totally out of your control, given that you are entirely not sure of what your contact does on the other end. So itis recommended you only exchange some very sensitive information with just a few friends you can trust.

How to turn on disappearing messages in Signal

Much like the WhatsApp disappearing message feature, the disappearing messages in Signal isn’t active by default. That implies you have to enable or activate your contacts. It is also not available app-wide, so it also means you have to turn for all your contacts one at a time. Sadly, the feature is available only to individual chats, and not in group chats, though an update that could fix that is one we could anticipate in the coming months.

That said, let’s quickly delve into how to turn on disappearing messages in Signal. Basically, you can enable or disable the disappearing messages in Signal from the app’s;

• Quick menu
• Conversation settings

Disappearing messages in Signal: Turn on disappearing messages from the quick menu:

1. Fire up the signal Messenger, then start a conversation with your contact, or open an existing conversation.
2. Click on the three-dot button in the upper-right of the conversation.
3. Tap “Disappearing Messages.”
4. Select how long to display messages before they’re deleted. The quickest is 5 seconds, and the longest is 1 week.

Turn on disappearing messages from the conversation settings:

1. Open a conversation then tap your contact’s name at the top of a conversation window.
2. In the conversation menu, tap “Disappearing Messages” to turn it on (or off) for this conversation
3. Use the menu to select the message deletion time limit.

How to disable Disappearing Messages in Signal

1. Open the chat with your contact.
2. Tap the timer icon  in the header.
3. Scroll to the top to select Off and choose OK.
4. The chat header will not include a timer icon.
5. The chat will include an alert that the timer is  Off.
6. All messages sent after this change will not disappear.
7. Any sent or received message will not contain a timer icon.

While the steps highlighted above applies only to users on the Android platform, those using iOS device can equally disable or enable Disappearing Messages in Signal. The steps are just similar and it requires you to tap a few buttons.

1. Open the chat with your contact.
2. Tap the contact name or header to view chat settings.
3. Tap Disappearing Messages. When enabled the button slides to the right and displays a blue background.
4. Use the slider to set your message timer anywhere from 5 seconds to 1 week.
5. Tap back  in the top left to return to your chat.
6. The chat header will include a timer icon .
7. The chat will include an alert that it is enabled.

Steps to change the time:

1. Open the chat with your contact.
2. Tap the contact name or header to view chat settings.
3. Slide through the timer options to select a new time.
4. Tap back  in the top left to return to your chat.
5. The alert in your chat will display the new disappearing message time.

And to disable the feature on any iOS-enabled device, all that is needed is to:

1. Open the chat with your contact.
2. Tap the contact name or header to view chat settings.
3. Tap Disappearing Messages. When disabled the button slides to the left and there is no color and the slider underneath will disappear.
4. The chat header will not include a timer icon.
5. The chat will include an alert that the timer is disabled.
6. All messages sent after this change will not disappear.
7. Any sent or received message will not contain a timer icon.