Khaberni - The XChat app was launched, a standalone messaging app for the X platform, to the public on Friday. The new app is initially available for iOS devices, allowing users to communicate with their contacts on "X".
The app allows users to send messages, share files, make voice and video calls, in addition to group chats.
Earlier this year, the company began publicly testing "XChat" with a small group of users to gather feedback on the new experience, according to a report by the technology news website "Tech Crunch," which was accessed by "Arabia Business".
XChat is a crucial part of the company's strategic vision, which sees the social network as a launchpad for other services such as messaging or payments. A payments service is also being tested as a standalone app but is not available to the public yet.
However, "X"'s decision to separate part of its platform into a standalone app represents a shift from its owner Elon Musk's earlier plan to make "X a comprehensive app," which would provide a single platform for access to messaging, payments, creator content, shopping, artificial intelligence, and more.
Instead, "X AI," Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company that owns "X," offers a suite of apps to provide more interaction points with its services to users.
XChat supports messaging and calls, in addition to other features that "X" claims protect privacy, including the ability to edit and delete messages for all conversation participants, support for self-disappearing messages, and the ability to block screenshots.
"X" confirmed that there are no ads or tracking mechanisms in the app.
Encryption and Privacy
"X" also claims that all messages are fully encrypted and protected by a personal identification number, although security experts have previously doubted the platform's claims about encryption.
Security experts had earlier warned potential users that XChat service seems less secure than other encrypted messaging apps, like Signal, when the app was first launched.
Experts will need to re-evaluate the standalone XChat app now that it is widely available, to see if necessary improvements have been made.
In addition to providing space for private or group conversations, the XChat app is also set to be the new destination for "X communities," which the company decided to discontinue due to low usage and high rates of spam messages.
The timing of this decision may give "XChat" an early boost in the number of new installations, as members of those communities transition to it.
