According to engadget, Signal has officially launched secure backups for iOS devices following a similar Android release in early September. The feature backs up users’ text messages and up to 45 days of media at no cost, but storing older media costs $2 per month – Signal’s first paid offering. Anyone who opts-in will have their messages backed up daily using a 64-character recovery key that’s exclusively available on their device. Signal stated this approach helps cover the “expensive” costs of storing and transferring large amounts of data without selling user data or ads. The company had been testing the feature on Android beta releases before bringing it to iOS and desktop platforms.
The paid problem
Here’s the thing – Signal charging for anything feels weird, right? We’re used to everything being free from them. But honestly, $2 monthly for unlimited media storage is practically nothing compared to what other services charge. And their reasoning makes sense – they’re a nonprofit that refuses to sell your data, so they need to cover storage costs somehow.
But I wonder how many people will actually pay. Most users probably don’t need to access media older than 45 days anyway. It’s smart positioning – the core functionality remains free, while the premium tier targets power users who really need that historical media access.
Security first approach
The 64-character recovery key being device-exclusive is classic Signal. They’re making it absolutely clear they can’t recover your backup if you lose that key. That’s both reassuring and terrifying – no backdoors, no recovery options if you mess up.
Basically, they’re putting the security responsibility squarely on users. Which is how it should be, but let’s be real – how many people are actually going to properly store that recovery key? We’ve seen this movie before with cryptocurrency wallets, and it doesn’t always end well.
Nonprofit reality check
Signal’s walking a tricky tightrope here. They need to sustain operations without compromising their privacy-first ethos. As they explained in their blog post, storing and transferring large amounts of data is expensive, and they can’t just monetize user data like other tech companies.
This feels like testing the waters for future paid features. If users accept this $2 charge, what’s next? The bigger question is whether this model can actually scale to support Signal’s operations long-term. Running a global messaging service isn’t cheap, and relying on donations and occasional small fees might not cut it forever.
The announcement came via a simple X post linking back to the original Android announcement, which suggests they’re treating this as an incremental update rather than a major launch. Interesting approach – almost like they’re being cautious about how this paid feature will be received.
