What is Signal Android used for?

Signal Android is the open-source Android client of the Signal private messenger, offering encrypted messages and voice or video calls. It is a good fit for private messaging on Android and auditing or contributing to an encrypted messenger.

Is Signal Android open source?

Yes. Signal Android is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at signalapp/Signal-Android and is written mainly in Kotlin.

Is Signal Android free?

Yes. Signal Android is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.

What is Signal Android an alternative to?

Signal Android is an open-source alternative to WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger and Viber. Other open-source alternatives to WhatsApp include Signal Desktop, Signal iOS and SimpleX Chat.

Is Signal Android actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Signal Android was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v8.28.4, published on 23 September 2026. The project has 29k stars on GitHub.

Signal Android: open-source alternative to WhatsApp

About Signal Android

Signal Android is the source code of the Signal private messenger for Android. Signal describes itself as a simple and secure messenger that sends messages and places voice and video calls over WiFi or a mobile data connection, with privacy protections always switched on. The app is written in Kotlin and released under the AGPL-3.0 license, and it is free to use.

The app is available from the Play Store and signal.org, with versions for iOS and desktop as well. The repository explains how to report bugs on GitHub, join the beta channel on Google Play, contribute translations through the community forum, and submit code. New contributors are encouraged to start with small bug fixes, and larger ideas should be discussed on the community forum first. The client depends on Signal's own hosted service, so there is no self-hosted server option here.

Key features

Encrypted one-to-one and group messaging
Voice and video calls
Privacy features that are always enabled
Android app distributed via Play Store and signal.org
Open Kotlin source under AGPL-3.0
Beta program and translation contributions

Good fit for

→Private messaging on Android
→Auditing or contributing to an encrypted messenger

Built with: Kotlin
Tags: signal; messenger; encryption; privacy; android; kotlin; secure-messaging; voice-calls

Signal Android: questions and answers

What is Signal Android used for?: Signal Android is the open-source Android client of the Signal private messenger, offering encrypted messages and voice or video calls. It is a good fit for private messaging on Android and auditing or contributing to an encrypted messenger.
Is Signal Android open source?: Yes. Signal Android is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at signalapp/Signal-Android and is written mainly in Kotlin.
Is Signal Android free?: Yes. Signal Android is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.
What is Signal Android an alternative to?: Signal Android is an open-source alternative to WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger and Viber. Other open-source alternatives to WhatsApp include Signal Desktop, Signal iOS and SimpleX Chat.
Is Signal Android actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Signal Android was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v8.28.4, published on 23 September 2026. The project has 29k stars on GitHub.