Twitter Announces Encryption For DMs, Teases Voice & Video Chat

According to posts from Twitter and its owner Elon Musk on Tuesday, disclosed its revamping direct messages in a significant way and plans to roll out encrypted DMs.

First, let’s discuss the recent adjustments. Users can now respond to individual messages (which function similarly to the in-line answers you may be familiar with in iMessage), as explained in a tweet from the company’s support account, and react to messages with any reaction instead of just a select few. Both functionalities are already included in the iOS app recently downloaded. By pressing and holding on to a certain message, you can get to them.

The biggest change may be encrypted direct messages (DMs), which Musk stated was Twitter’s top goal during a meeting with staff in November. Musk claims that the feature’s version 1.0 release “should happen” on today, Wednesday and that it would “grow in sophistication” rapidly. He said, “The acid test is that even with a gun to my head, I could not see your DMs.”

However, until encrypted DMs become a reality, I won’t believe they exist says Musk. In February, he mentioned that the platform will start paying creators a portion of ad revenue, but on Tuesday he admitted that the company is still developing the necessary software.

In addition, Musk claimed that “soon,” Twitter will enable “voice and video chat from your handle to anyone on the platform.” Musk explains that the goal is to enable Twitter so that users can “talk to people anywhere in the world without giving them your phone number.” In November, Musk also discussed this feature with his staff.