X has announced a broader launch of its updated DM interface, which it claims offers improved encryption, and better security than other competitors on the market, along with features that X have been in testing over the past few months with paying users.
Chat, which X had at one time called “X Chat” (a disaster for search engines), will now offer a range of new functionalities for all users, including end-to-end encrypted chats and file sharing, the ability to edit, delete or send disappearing DMs, screenshot blocking, and more.
You can also launch video chats from the interface, while voice memos are reportedly coming soon.
It’s a key component of Elon Musk’s long-promised overhaul of the app, and the reformation of Twitter into his “everything app” vision, in which he’s seeking to replicate the ubiquity of Chinese messaging platforms like WeChat for the Western market.
Which, as I’ve written about many times, won’t work, but an improved DM system, with better security, will ideally help to facilitate more types of interactions, including monetary transactions, in the app.
Though just how safe and secure X’s end-to-end encryption actually is remains up for debate.
As a recap, X initially launched DM encryption for Premium subscribers last year, but it wasn’t as secure as X would’ve liked, with Musk even labeling it “clunky” and not functional at all for one-to-one messages.
Encryption on X’s audio and video calls, according to X, worked as intended, but in order to enact full DM encryption, X had to undergo a full overhaul of its back-end messaging system.
As a result, X retracted its initial model, then re-launched encrypted DMs to X Premium users in June this year.
Yet, even with this revised approach, experts have warned that X’s system is not as secure as it claims.
X’s encryption process has been heavily criticized for its various potential vulnerabilities. And while Musk himself has admitted that it’s not perfect as yet, the company’s aim, he says, is to create the “least insecure” messaging system available.
Which sounds like X’s DM system will always have some vulnerabilities, and given Musk’s declining public standing, I’m not sure that a heap of people are going to be willing to share their private info on X’s servers.
Or their financial info, which is the next step in Elon’s vision.
Musk’s plan is to eventually have X become a personal banking hub, which would even see users apply for loans, and maintain their savings accounts in the app.
If Elon can convince enough people to do this, and then gain support from enough retailers and partners to make X payments a thing, like paying via tap-and-go with your credit card, then yes, I can see the path towards making that “everything app” dream a reality.
But again, with Musk’s reputation in decline, and questions already being raised about the safety of X’s encryption systems, I don’t see this happening. In any way.
Nevertheless, the DM update is another element of Musk’s plan, while Musk has also taken a dig at other messaging providers, including WhatsApp, which he says includes “hooks for advertising” in its back-end architecture, compromising security.
Which is not correct, at least not in the way that Musk is implying.
What Musk is referring to is webhooks, which can be enabled within WhatsApp Business chats to help businesses stay on top of WhatsApp DMs. They are not available within personal messaging flows, only chats with brands.
But Elon will be hoping that his influence will be enough to prompt broader take-up of X DMs, and see more engagement shift over to the app.
It’s another step in Musk’s “if you build it, they will come” strategy to make X into a major platform for more uses, though it seems unlikely to spark a sudden resurgence in X DMs.
