iPhone from Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has many reasons to get back its place in the hearts of the customers, who diverted to competitors like Samsung. The latest addition is the first free application that has been developed by an open-source project specifically for the Apple smartphone. This app is beneficial for those, who wish to prevent their calls from surveillance by government or eavesdropping by hackers.
End-to-end encryption for Apple iPhone
This app helps in scrambling of calls. RedPhone and TextSecure are two Android applications developed by Open Whisper Systems and this app for Apple iPhone named ‘Signal’ is the first from them. The two apps serve the purpose of encrypting calls and text messages respectively.
The app ‘Signal’ is compatible with the RedPhone. Going by a blog post, the company has plans of developing an Android app that will be the combination of RedPhone and TextSecure, and will be called Signal.
The app ensures end-to-end encryption of voice calls. During a call, two words will be displayed on the screen of the sender and the receiver, which they need to verify with each other so that they can be assured that no hacker is eavesdropping into their conversation and is not under government surveillance.
Better than others
Two distinguishing factors of Signal are that it’s free and open source code. While we already have a number of products in the market meant for encrypting the voice calls, which have been designed for various platforms, but almost all of them are expensive and have the enterprise as their target customers. The integrity of this app can be verified by the developers simply by looking at the code. This helps in establishing customers’ faith in the product that it does not come with any ‘backdoors.’
Signal has its beauty in its simplicity. The user will receive a one-time code through SMS that will be needed for verifying the phone number of the device for successfully completing the setup. Other users, who have got Signal installed, will have their contact details displayed by Signal.
The Signal app for Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone is an addition to the offerings by the software vendors for mobile encryption. Encrypted calling and texting services are also offered by Washington D.C. based Silent Circle for a monthly subscription. This company is a partner in Geneva-based SGP Technologies that manufactures security minded device BlackPhone, released last month.
