Today’s beta release of Signal for Android and iOS includes support for read receipts. This is an optional new feature that gives you the ability to see and share when messages have been read. Something tells us that you might find this useful…

Our implementation of read receipts is simple. There is only one setting. Both sides must have the feature enabled in order to see each other’s receipts.

We believe that read receipts result in a better communication experience. They will be enabled when users install Signal, but the feature is disabled by default for existing installations. It’s simple to turn them on and off at any time.

Read about the future, or help us write it

Our beta community will help us test and refine this feature. As a non-beta user, you’ll wake up one bright morning with a new release of Signal on your device – blissfully unaware of everything that happened between then and now.

We strongly encourage you to wait for that bright morning if you need a stable and reliable messaging experience.

However, if you’re ready for a life of adventure (and occasional sadness), you can sign up for the Signal iOS beta channel by emailing support@whispersystems.org. Please include “Signal iOS Beta” in the subject line. Or you can join the Android Beta via Google Play.

We are also hiring for several positions.

Music: “I Dunno (Grapes of Wrath Mix)” by spinningmerkaba. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0).