Functionally, Signal has become more similar to Zoom and Google Meet

Signal has added features that bring its calls closer to the Zoom and Google Meet experiences. Users can now create and share call links both inside and outside of Signal with the ability to reuse them.

The application also has emoji reactions and a button to raise your hand to attract the attention of interlocutors. The new call tracking tab allows you to view your call history. These features are already available in the latest versions of Signal for Android, iOS and PC.

Apple has announced that messages sent via iMessage will now be protected by two forms of end-to-end encryption (E2EE), up from just one before. These changes make iMessage one of the two messaging apps most prepared for the coming advent of quantum computing, on par with Signal or even more resilient.

The new encryption, known as PQ3, is an implementation of a new algorithm called Kyber that cannot be broken using quantum computing. Apple adds PQ3 to the existing algorithm rather than replacing it, which means that an attacker would have to break both algorithms to break the encryption.

These changes to iMessage come five months after the Signal Foundation, the developer of the Signal protocol, also updated the open standard to be ready for post-quantum computing (PQC), adding Kyber to the X3DH algorithm it previously used.

iMessage and Signal provide end-to-end encryption, making it impossible for anyone but the sender and receiver to read the messages in decrypted form. iMessage began offering E2EE at launch in 2011, and Signal became available in 2014.

However, in light of such updates, experts also say that one of the biggest threats to many forms of encryption is quantum computing. The power of the algorithms used in almost all messaging applications is based on mathematical problems that are easy to solve in one direction and extremely difficult in another. Unlike a traditional computer, a quantum computer with sufficient resources can solve these problems in much less time.