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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

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http://www.tomshardware.com/news/signal-messenger-standalone-desktop-app,35810.html [tomshardware.com]

Open Whisper Systems (OWS), the non-profit that develops the Signal messenger [tomshardware.com] and its end-to-end encryption protocol [tomshardware.com], released a new standalone desktop application that will replace the existing Signal Chrome App. The move comes as Google is preparing to end support for Chrome Apps in its browser.

[...] Because Google is deprecating its Chrome Apps, Signal's developers had to find another way to offer their users a desktop application without having to rewrite one from scratch. The group used Electron [electron.atom.io], an open source framework for creating native applications using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This way, OWS was able to convert its existing Chrome App code into a standalone Electron application without too many changes.

Although we don't get a truly native Signal application, there are still some advantages to be gained from this transition. For one, you don't need to install Chrome anymore, just to be able to use the desktop Signal application. Firefox and Safari users can run the new Signal app separately, just like any other desktop app.

The second advantage is that you no longer need to keep your smartphone around to be able to chat via the desktop app, as you have to do with the desktop version of WhatsApp, for instance. After the initial set-up and linking of your smartphone to the desktop app, the new desktop app can be used independently of a smartphone.

Related: Redphone and TextSecure are now Signal [soylentnews.org]
Egypt has Blocked Encrypted Messaging App Signal [soylentnews.org]
Encrypted Messaging App Signal Uses Google to Bypass Censorship [soylentnews.org]

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