Signal tests usernames to keep phone numbers hidden

Signal is testing public usernames as a privacy feature. This will allow users to hide their phone numbers linked to their accounts while communicating with others.

According to a post by Signal’s VP of Engineering Jim O’Leary, this feature is being tested in a staging environment, which is separate from the stable Signal encrypted messaging service.

“Think of The Staging Environment as a parallel Signal universe: you’ll need to install and run a new build and register for a new account with a phone number (you can use the same one you’re using in Production),” he said.