Install Signal Messenger on Ubuntu 20.04

Follow through this guide to learn how to install Signal messenger on Ubuntu 20.04. Signal is a cross-platform centralized encrypted messaging service developed by the Signal Technology Foundation and Signal Messenger LLC. It uses the Internet to send one-to-one and group messages, which can include files, voice notes, images and videos.

Installing Signal Messenger on Ubuntu 20.04

Signal Messenger Features

Some of the features provided by Signal include;

• State-of-the-art end-to-end encryption (powered by the open source Signal Protocol) keeps your conversations secure.
• Enables you to share text, voice messages, photos, videos, GIFs and files for free.
• Make crystal-clear voice and video calls 
• Add a new layer of expression to your conversations with encrypted stickers. You can also create and share your own sticker packs.
• Enables you to create group chats that make it easy to stay connected to your family, friends, and coworkers.
• There are no ads, no affiliate marketers, and no creepy tracking in Signal.
• Free to use.

As much as you can install Signal messenger on your mobile phones, it is also possible to install desktop version on Ubuntu 20.04 desktop system.

There are two ways in which you can install Signal on Ubuntu 20.04;

1. Install Signal on Ubuntu 20.04 from Official Signal Repositories
2. Install Signal on Ubuntu 20.04 from Snap packages

Install Signal on Ubuntu 20.04 from Official Signal Repositories

To install Signal on Ubuntu 20.04 from official Signal repositories, you need to create install the Signal repositories on Ubuntu 20.04 as follows;

Install Signal official public software signing key

wget -O- https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt/keys.asc |  sudo apt-key add -

Add Signal repository to the list of Ubuntu repositories

echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/signal-xenial.list

Update the system package cache;

apt update

Next, verify that you have latest stable release version of Signal desktop, v1.39.6 as of this writing;

apt-cache policy signal-desktop

signal-desktop:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.39.6
  Version table:
     1.39.6 500
        500 https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial/main amd64 Packages
     1.38.1 500
        500 https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial/main amd64 Packages
     1.37.3 500
        500 https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial/main amd64 Packages
     1.36.1 500
        500 https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial/main amd64 Packages

You can now install Signal Desktop on Ubuntu 20.04 by running the command below;

apt install signal-desktop

Install Signal on Ubuntu 20.04 from Snap packages

Snap provides the latest version of Signal desktop app. If you don’t want to create the Signal repos on your Ubuntu desktop system, you can install Signal from Snap. A snap is a bundle of an app and its dependencies that works without modification across many different Linux distributions. Snaps are discoverable and installable from the Snap Store, an app store with an audience of millions.

Snap is already installed on Ubuntu 20.04.

Update the snaps;

snap refresh

Check if Snap provides Signal desktop app package;

snap find signal-desktop

Name            Version  Publisher     Notes  Summary
signal-desktop  1.39.6   snapcrafters  -      Signal Private Messenger for Windows, Mac, and Linux

As you can see, snaps provides the latest stable release version of Signal desktop app.

To install Signal desktop app from Snap, run the command;

snap install signal-desktop

Running Signal Desktop App on Ubuntu

Once the installation completes, Signal desktop app should now be available on the system apps menu;

You can now launch and use it. Note: To use the Signal desktop app, Signal must first be installed on your phone.

Therefore, install the app on your mobile phone and link it with the desktop app.

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