This app makes encrypting calls and messages easy for everyone

If you tell someone their messages and phone calls should be encrypted, you’ll probably get a glazed-over look before they tell you it’s too hard. Signal 2.0 aims to bring powerful, easy-to-use encryption to the masses.

The app, which doesn’t require a login, uses your existing phone number and address book to get you started with encrypted texting and calling without a hitch. Signal says that it can’t tap into calls or read your messages because it’s end-to-end encrypted.

With this new release you can message across iOS and Android (via a third-party app called TextSecure) without any fees or set up. One of Signal’s strengths is it can help you verify who the person on the other end is, so you’re sure the encryption isn’t being tampered with.

Signal also allows free encrypted voice calling to friends. Essentially, it makes it so easy to encrypt everything there’s almost no excuse not to use it.

Apple’s iMessage does have encryption strong enough to upset law enforcement, but it doesn’t apply when sending a traditional text, nor is there any transparency to the code that runs the service. Telegram, a competing app that offers strong encryption sens over 1 billion messages every day.

Signal’s ad-free, costs nothing to use and is funded by community donations and grants. It’s also open source, so if you know how you can check for yourself that it’s not up to anything suspicious.

➤ Signal [iOS]