These Five New Features Make X DMs Feel More Like a Messaging App
X has never been a messaging app, even when it was known as Twitter. Direct messages are useful, sure, and I have no doubt that some people use it as their primary chat app. But the platform’s chat feature has never been the reason most users log in, especially compared to dedicated platforms like WhatsApp.
But Elon Musk isn’t satisfied with the status quo. As TechCrunch reports , Musk has made it clear in the years since he acquired and rebranded Twitter that he wants DMs to compete with (and beat) rivals like Signal and iMessage . Now he’s finally making a move, as DMs on X are being transformed into something new: XChat.
On Sunday, Musk posted an announcement on X about the launch of XChat. It appears that the new chat feature is currently in beta, but based on Musk’s post and some first-hand accounts, it appears that XChat is bringing four key new features to chat on X.
Encryption
Encryption is the first new feature Musk mentions in his XChat announcement, and it’s no surprise why. End-to-end message encryption (E2EE) is a key feature of modern chat apps. It ensures that only users involved in the conversation can read messages sent and received — if attackers intercepted the stream and tried to read the messages without logging into an approved user’s account, they’d see a jumble of meaningless code. Crucially, it means that the company that makes the chat app can’t access your messages, either.
Most chat apps offer E2EE to at least some degree. Signal made the standard famous, but iMessage, WhatsApp, and Messenger all use it. X DMs have traditionally been unencrypted, meaning someone on X could read your chats or hand your chats over to authorities if they asked for them.
Musk isn’t wrong that E2EE is necessary if you’re trying to build a chat app to compete with the likes of Signal, but he’s also not sure he understands how encryption works. Musk says that XChat’s encryption is “built on Rust with (Bitcoin-style) encryption.” Rust is a programming language, which makes his phrasing a little odd. ( One Reddit user points out that Musk refers to Rust as a platform, not the programming language that it is.) But more importantly, Bitcoin isn’t encrypted, making “Bitcoin-style encryption” a confusing statement. There’s speculation that Musk is referring to “cryptography,” which Bitcoin actually uses, but that’s not the same thing as encryption. For the sake of XChat users, I hope the chats are actually E2EE, but it’s hard to tell at this point.
Disappearing messages
Snapchat may have popularized disappearing messages, but it’s far from the only app that offers them. For years, you’ve been able to send self-destructing texts on apps like Telegram , WhatsApp , and Instagram . Soon, you’ll be able to do the same on XChat.
It’s not yet clear how XChat will handle disappearing messages, but I’m guessing the app will offer a self-destruct feature that will let you choose a time limit before a sent message expires, like Telegram.
File sharing
Musk says that with XChat you’ll be able to send “any type of file.” He didn’t go into detail, but file sharing is a useful element of any chat app. You can currently send photos, videos, and GIFs in X DM, but not other types of files.
Mark messages as unread
Musk didn’t announce the feature in his initial post, but a user testing the beta noticed it . XChat supports “unreading” a message, or essentially marking it as unread. It’s a small but useful change for messages you can’t get to right away but don’t want to forget about the next time you’re scrolling through your chats.
Delete messages for everyone in chat
This is another new feature that Musk didn’t announce himself. The same beta tester post notes that XChat supports the ability to delete a message for all participants. Like many chat apps, if you send a message you regret, you can “undo” it, and it will also be removed from recipients’ chats.
However, many apps put a time limit on this feature. For example, iMessage only lets you undo a message for two minutes after it’s sent. After that, you’ll see the option to delete it for yourself only. It’s not clear how long XChat will let you delete a message for everyone after it’s sent.
Audio and video calls (which are not really anything new)
As part of his announcement, Musk said that XChat would also feature audio and video calls, but X has had audio and video calls for a while now, so I’m not entirely sure why he chose to emphasize them.
Can XChat really gain popularity as an alternative messaging tool?
Maybe I’m being skeptical, but I highly doubt that these new features — while they are certainly useful — will make XChat the best chat app, and for a simple reason: Have you ever tried to get your friends and family to switch chat apps? It’s like pulling teeth. People are set in their ways of communicating — whether that’s loyalty to their iPhones with iMessage or loyalty to WhatsApp like most of the world. There are a lot of chat apps out there, and while people switch between them for different reasons, you’re unlikely to convert them en masse to one particular platform.
Add to that the fact that this new option is tied to a controversial platform owned by a controversial person, and it’s hard to imagine anyone signing up for X just to use XChat. I could be wrong, but something tells me I won’t be using XChatting with friends and family anytime soon.