Signal and pinned messages: organize your chats without losing privacy

In recent years, Signal has climbed into the top three most used messaging appsEspecially among those who value privacy above all else. To its already extensive list of security features, it now adds one of the most requested by its users: pinned messages. A small addition at first glance, but with a significant impact on daily use.

The app has gained a reputation for being a real alternative to WhatsApp and Telegram Thanks to its radical focus on security, encryption, and code transparency, Signal is now catching up in chat organization with the arrival of pinned messages. This feature allows users to highlight announcements, reminders, or key information without them getting lost among hundreds of new messages.

What is Signal and why has it become so popular?

Signal is not just any messaging app: it's based on the Signal Messaging Protocol, considered the gold standard in end-to-end encryption. This protocol, adopted even by other services, is designed so that only the sender and receiver can read what is sent, without third parties—including Signal servers—having access to the content.

In addition to encryption, the application offers all the usual features of a modern messaging platformText chats, voice and video calls, individual or group video calls, sending photos, videos, documents and files of all kinds, always protected with the same level of security.

One of the platform's key differentiators is that Signal is an open source projectThis means its source code is publicly available and can be viewed, reviewed, and audited in repositories like GitHub. Any security expert can analyze how the app works and detect privacy issues or vulnerabilities, providing a level of transparency that few commercial applications offer.

The responsibility for development lies with a independent non-profit organizationThe Signal Foundation is not controlled by large technology companies or investment groups whose primary objective is to monetize data. Its funding is based on voluntary donations, which reinforces its focus: "to enable secure communication worldwide with open, privacy-centric technology."

This approach has had one clear consequence: the steady growth of Signal's user base worldwide, including Spanish-speaking countries. More and more people are tired of giving away their data and prefer an option where privacy and the possibility of protect your data They should not be an add-on, but the foundation of the entire service.

What are pinned messages in Signal and what are they used for?

The new pinned messages feature allows pin specific messages to the top of any chatThis applies to both individual and group conversations. These messages are visibly highlighted with a banner at the top, accompanied by a bookmark icon that clearly distinguishes them from the rest.

This feature is designed to Don't lose sight of key information in busy chatsReminders, important dates, relevant links, group rules, login details, schedules, meeting announcements… Instead of having to scroll back looking for the message among dozens or hundreds of texts, the information is always in view.

This feature is especially useful in large groups: Any important warning usually gets buried. quickly become a source of a flood of comments. With pinned messages, that content remains accessible without needing to be constantly forwarded or repeated, which also reduces chat noise.

Signal has designed this new feature trying to maintain the same spirit as the rest of the app: simple to use, flexible, and consistent with privacyTherefore, although the idea of ​​pinning messages may sound familiar to those who use other apps, the implementation in Signal takes care of details such as managing duration or interacting with temporary messages.

Another key point is that It's not limited to just classic text messagesAlmost any content you can send in Signal can be pinned, which opens up many possibilities for organizing information within your conversations.

How to use pinned messages in Signal step by step

To ensure that anyone can take advantage of the new feature, Signal has opted for a A very intuitive interface based on familiar gesturesPinning a message doesn't require hidden menus or advanced settings: it's done in seconds and without complications.

Pinning a message is very simple: You just have to press and hold the message you want to highlight.Doing so brings up the usual context menu, which now includes the "Pin message" option alongside other actions such as reply, forward, or delete.

Once set, the content appears in a Banner at the top of the chat with a bookmark iconclearly visible. From that same banner, you can tap the pinned message to jump directly to its original position in the conversation, which is handy if you want to see the context of that message or what was said just before and after.

Signal also allows Access all pinned messages in a conversation from a unified viewInstead of searching for them in the chat, you have a specific place where they are grouped, which makes them easier to manage, especially in groups where several messages are pinned over time.

If at any point the pinned content becomes irrelevant, the app gives you two options: unpin messages one by one or unpin them all at onceThe user can delete a single pinned message from the banner itself or from the pinned messages view, or use a command that removes all pinned messages from that chat at once.

Duration of pinned messages and maximum limit per chat

One of the most interesting features of this function is the flexibility in the duration of the fixed messagesNot all alerts have the same validity period, and that's why Signal offers several time options so that the operation adapts to the reality of each conversation.

When you pin a message, you can choose to have it remain pinned for 24 hours, 7 days, 30 days or indefinitelyThus, a small reminder for something the next day can be set for just one day, while the rules of a group or a frequently used link can be left pinned forever.

Although you can set messages with no time limit, the app establishes a maximum limit of three messages set per chatIn other words, in each conversation—whether individual or group—only up to three pinned messages can coexist at the same time to prevent the top of the chat from becoming an endless list.

If at any point you try to pin a fourth message, Signal applies a very clear logic: The new message automatically replaces the oldest one that was already set.In this way, the system remains organized and the most recent information is always prioritized, unless the user decides to manually delete or change the pinned messages.

At any time you have the possibility to change the duration or unpin a message before its expiration date. For example, if a reminder you only intended to keep for 24 hours is still useful, you can reset it or replace it with a more up-to-date one.

Types of content that can be pinned in Signal

One major advantage of this new feature is that It is not limited to simple text messages only.Virtually any type of message you can send in Signal can be pinned, making the tool much more versatile and useful in everyday life.

Among the types of content that can be anchored are the ordinary text messages, perfect for displaying an instruction, a brief notice or a summary of what needs to be remembered in a group.

It is also possible to fix Images and videos sent through the appThis is ideal for highlighting, for example, an event poster, a photo with important information, a short explanatory video, or any visual content you want to keep handy without having to search for it in the chat gallery.

Signal also allows anchoring surveys, locations, stickers, and voice messagesIn this way, an audio with instructions, a meeting location, an active poll, or even a sticker relevant to the group dynamics can remain visible as long as they are still useful.

Compatibility also extends to Animated GIFs, single-view files, and documentsAlthough single-view files have playback restrictions, they can be pinned while they are available, and pinned documents (such as a PDF or spreadsheet) are just a click away at the top of the chat, without having to search through the file history.

Relationship between pinned messages and temporary messages

Signal has been offering the option for some time Temporary messages that disappear automatically after a certain period. This feature is widely used by those who prioritize privacy and don't want their conversations saved indefinitely.

With the arrival of pinned messages, it was essential that both functions were integrated in a coherent mannerThe solution chosen by Signal respects the logic of expiring messages and avoids confusing situations or contradictions in the app's behavior.

When disappearing messages are enabled in a chat, any pinned message that is subject to expiration It is automatically detached and removed when its period ends.In other words, posting a message does not grant immunity from programmed deletion.

This means that, in conversations with self-destructing messages, Pinned messages only remain until the timer expiresOnce the configured disappearance time has elapsed, the message is no longer pinned and is also deleted from the conversation, just like any other temporary message.

Thanks to this functionality, Signal remains committed to privacyNo chat organization option becomes an excuse to indefinitely keep messages that the user has decided should disappear after a specific time.

Development status and availability of the feature

The Signal development team has gone through an intense phase in recent months, focused on functions of great technical importance such as usernamesUser links, advanced cross-device synchronization, and cloud backups. Once these more complex pieces were completed, they began freeing up time to implement highly requested but more specific improvements, such as surveys and, now, pinned messages.

Everything indicates that Signal is in a streak of continuous new feature releasesFirst came the surveys to facilitate group organization, and shortly afterwards the pinned messages feature was released, which reinforces the organization of information within conversations.

The app developers have explained that Work on the pinned messages is still ongoingThis means that some details of its operation could be refined or slightly changed before the final global rollout. Even so, the fundamentals of the feature are already clear and have been made public.

Regarding availability, the pinned messages feature is being incorporated into the Recent versions of the app for Android, iOS and desktopSpecifically, it mentions its arrival on Signal for Android from version 7.71, on iOS from 7.93 and on the desktop client from 7.87, with a gradual rollout until it reaches all users.

For those who want to follow the technical or official details of the implementation, Signal offers additional information on its corporate blog and on its official website, where release notes and major announcements related to new features, security improvements, and platform changes are published.

Signal as an open-source project and its impact on privacy

Beyond the stated messages, understanding how the project is structured helps to see why Every new feature is designed with security as the top priority.Signal is developed as free and open-source software, which makes a significant difference compared to many other messaging apps.

The fact that the code is publicly accessible implies that Any person or entity with expertise in cybersecurity can review the app's internal workings, check how encryption keys are managed, what information is stored on the servers and what data is shared or not with third parties.

This transparency reduces the risk of unpleasant surprises: There are no hidden features or documented backdoors, only in private.Because the community can analyze and validate the software's behavior. If a potential flaw or vulnerability is detected, the community itself can alert the development team so they can fix it.

The organization behind the app, the Signal Foundation, operates as non-profit organization whose stated objective is to protect private communicationThis structure ensures that decisions are not based on the commercial exploitation of user data, but rather on the continuous improvement of the security level and the product.

Thanks to this philosophy, every new tool—including pinned messages, polls, or improvements to backups and synchronization— It is integrated with the absolute priority of preserving privacy.No features are added that compromise sensitive information or violate the end-to-end encryption principle that has defined Signal since its inception.

Taken together, the arrival of the pinned messages reinforces the idea that it is possible Enjoy a modern, comprehensive, and convenient messaging experience without sacrificing privacy.Users gain in organization and convenience for managing their chats, while the app maintains its essence focused on security, open source and the absence of business models based on data exploitation.

With all this, Signal consolidates its position as one of the most relevant messaging applications for those seeking to protect their conversations to the fullest, and pinned messages become yet another tool to keep important information under control that passes through our chats without it getting lost in the noise.