How to encrypt your text messages for private conversations on iPhone and Android
If you ‘re unfamiliar, encoding helps jumble the subject of a message into random data until it ‘s received on the other end and the original message is compiled back together again. This means if anyone intercepts the message — a hacker for model — it ‘s by and large just jumbled characters and symbols. Keep in mind that this does n’t protect your messages from being seen if your device is ever compromised — if person has access to your call ( or the person you ‘re sending messages to ) they can read the messages. If you want to encrypt your messages on iPhone and Android, here are some tips .
Use iMessage
Apple iMessage Apple If you ‘re on an iPhone and texting to person who besides has an iPhone, your messages are already going to be secure thanks to the encoding keys Apple already keeps in iMessage. This is n’t the case if you ‘re sending a even “ k ” bubble text message to another phone that is n’t an iPhone, it ‘s only the case with “ blue ” burp messages between iPhones, iPads and Macs. If you ‘re on Android, move along to the adjacent footstep. iMessage is probably the most fun of the code apps, besides, since it supports third-party apps, the ability to pay people with Apple Pay Cash, Animoji and more .
One option for Android and iPhone: Signal
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Todd Haselton | CNBC One go-to app for folks who want encrypted messages is Signal. It ‘s available on iPhone and Android and is very easy to use. First you download the app then register your call total. On Android, you can tied set it to be the default messaging app ( though again, you ‘ll want to make indisputable you ‘re sending messages to person who ‘s besides using Signal to ensure encoding. ) When you send a message to person without Signal, it will ask you to invite that person to use the app. Do this and your messages will be encrypted. Signal besides has extra security features including options to block others from taking screenshots, disabling keyboards that learn from what you type, and the option to set a password to open the app. There ‘s an choice to make messages disappear after 5 seconds, which is commodious if you ‘re concern about person going through your phone. last, Signal shows you the “ base hit ” number that you can compare with the person you ‘re chatting to to make certain that the conversation is fasten .
WhatsApp works on phones and the web, too
The WhatsApp app
Dado Ruvic | Reuters WhatsApp is another choice that works for Android and iPhone. Like iMessage, it besides offers throughout encoding that theoretically keeps the contents dependable from anyone outside the WhatsApp conversation. WhatsApp does n’t require you to change any settings — everything is already encrypted by default option. It besides promises that it does n’t store any of the messages on its servers, which means your messages are kept locally on the phones they ‘re transport and received from. WhatsApp besides has a web interface, so you can chat from a web browser on your computer, besides .