2023 • The Best Secure Messaging Apps for Secret Private Chats

1. When you’re in a relationship, you feel the need to be as connected as you can with your loved one. There’s no better way to stay connected than to have a good messenger app.
2. With the rise of monitoring programs by the Government and other major tech giants, the need for a super-secure private messaging app has become damn essential.
3. The apps listed in this article are safe to download and provide the utmost security to your data. They are specifically listed keeping couples and their privacy in mind.

1. Signal Private Messenger

Gold Standard: Signal is widely regarded as the gold standard of private messaging apps. Every day, millions use the Signal app for sending/receiving messages and HD voice and video calls.

End-to-End Encryption: By default, Signal provides advanced end-to-end encryption for all voice calls, video calls, and messages with its Proprietary Protocol. Arguably, it is the most secure messaging protocol developed in the world today that maintains Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) all the time. No one can read your messages or listen to your calls, not even Signal!

Express Freely: You can text/talk all that you want to your partner with complete peace of mind knowing no one is watching you. Besides, share photos, stickers, videos, voice messages, GIFs, and files with ease. The audio and video call quality of the app needs a special mention!

Disappearing Messages: You can turn on disappearing messages for each chat, which self-destruct after a fixed amount of time. The time can be set, ranging from five seconds to a week. Deleted messages are permanently removed from the chat thread for both users in the conversation. This makes it a great option when you’re sending potentially sensitive information that you don’t want to make available longer than necessary. Couples will love this feature!

Screen Lock: Signal allows you to secure the app with a screen lock. This way, even if the phone falls into the wrong hands, your secret messages and data are still safe. There is also an incognito keyboard option, which doesn’t allow your regular keyboard to save what you are typing. You also get the option to not allow a user to take chat screenshots.

Built-in Image Editor: You can choose custom alerts for each contact or altogether disable sound. The app’s built-in image editing features let you sketch, crop, and flip outgoing photos. Other features include read receipts, location sharing, relay calls, archive chats, and more. It does not support third-party backups either, which is a good thing.

No Data Collected: Signal’s key priority is user privacy, which is why the app doesn’t collect any user data. The only personal data Signal stores is your phone number, and it makes no attempt to link that to your identity.

Secure Messaging App: Signal is an independent nonprofit organization. Its technology is entirely open-source. They’re not tied to any major tech companies and can never be acquired by one either. It is fully supported by grants and donations from people like us.

Elon Musk’s Favorite: And if that wasn’t enough, it has recommendations from top privacy advocates including Bruce Schneier, Edward Snowden, and Elon Musk. There are no ads, no creepy trackers, and no worries in Signal. So focus on sharing the moments that matter with the people who matter to you.

2. Wickr Me – Private Messenger

Top-class Privacy: Wickr Me is one of the best secure messaging app for couples that requires no phone number or email address while registering. Adding your phone number is optional and will help other Wickr Me users find you. Amazingly, the app stores absolutely no data associated with your communication. This is great for having secret conversations with your partner.

Multi-layered Encryption: It was one of the first messaging apps to adopt end-to-end encryption in the world. All messages are encrypted by default using strong multi-layered encryption that has perfect forward and backward secrecy. No one will know the contents of your message except your partner.

Quality Voice/Video Call: Not just text messages, with Wickr Me, you can even make voice and video calls with ease. You can share all kinds of messages, including images, files, videos, voice memos and others. It’s the perfect secret chat app for lovers.

Quick Responses: Wickr Me has a set of pre-made responses you can send when you don’t have the time or attention to send a more personalized response. You can also share your current location in a tap. Besides, it is also possible to share your live location if necessary.

Self-Destructing Messages: You can send private, self-destructing messages, photos, videos, and voice messages to other Wickr Me users. You can customize the expiration timer. All the content is wiped from the device right after the message expires. A secure shredder is integrated so that you can make deleted items unrecoverable.

More Security Features: Wickr Me has several features that make the app further secure to use. It includes screenshot detection, blocking third-party keyboards, and support for Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). You can also enable biometric or password authentication every time you launch the app. Furthermore, the app does not log your IP address, Unique Device ID or any other metadata, making it easier to maintain anonymity on this platform.

It’s Reliable: The company has no way to identify the owner of a Wickr Me account because it has no access to your personal information. Even if you link a phone number with Wickr Me, it gets encrypted and cannot be read by the company. The app distinguishes its users based on their anonymous usernames. So only the person who has the correct credentials can log into the app. The company undergoes regular security audits and provides transparency reports every year.

3. Session – Private Messenger

Built for Couples: Session is the new kid in the block. It is a fork of the popular Signal Messenger app and is designed to be even more secure than it. The first line of Session’s privacy policy reads – “Session never knows who you are, who you’re talking to, or the contents of your messages.” Unlike Signal, you don’t need a mobile number nor an email ID to start using Sessions.

Completely Anonymous: The app creates a random Sessions ID every time you use it and works as a fully anonymous account. There’s also no provision for accessing your contact list. Instead, you can add new contacts by scanning your QR code or exchanging your session ID with your partner.

Powerful Signal Encryption: Session uses the advanced Signal Protocol to fully encrypt texts, voice messages, and attachments. It maintains the Perfect Forward Secrecy or PFS all the time. Only the sender and the recipient of a message can read it. Definitely, the best app for secret texting, but Session goes beyond providing message security.

Onion Routing: This is what separates Sessions app from the rest of the private messenger apps listed in this article. Sessions makes use of the Onion routing network. This networks encrypt messages with multiple layers of encryption, then send them through a number of nodes. On the receiving side, each node decrypts a layer of encryption, meaning that no single node ever knows both the destination and origin of the message.

Minimal Features: Session is not very feature-rich and provides minimal chat features. You can send voice messages, images, GIFs, files and do group chats. The groups in Sessions are again end-to-end encrypted. You can set time for a message sent to a person which gets deleted after the expiry of the set time.

IP Protection & Safety Match: With Sessions, your device IP addresses are never exposed to the person you’re talking to or the servers holding your data. It doesn’t store, track, or log your messaging metadata. The Safety Match feature helps you to verify the person on the other side is not a fake account (i.e., prevent man-in-the-middle attack). Only after matching the safety number, you can initiate the chat.

No Data Breaches: Sessions is less likely to have a data breach, as it never stores any messages or files exchanged between two people. Sessions uses the cutting-edge blockchain technology, which hosts just the service nodes to create connections. And yes, there are no master nodes in this system. Since the network is decentralized with no single point of contact and no main server, the bad guys get nothing to hack!

100% Open-Source: Sessions is an open-source project. The complete code of the app is available on the GitHub repository. It is built and maintained by the Loki Foundation, Australia’s first privacy tech not-for-profit organization.

Censorship Resistant: Another interesting aspect of the Sessions app is it can never be censored or banned by any country. Since it has no central point of failure, it’s harder to shut Session down. Having said all that, please note that the app is still under heavy development and has many bugs that will be eventually fixed over time.

4. Wire – Secure Messenger

Safe Messaging App: Wire has always marketed itself as the world’s most private messaging app. Of late, it has shifted its focus more towards being a secure collaboration platform for teams working remotely. Yet, at its heart, it’s still a secure messaging app that couples in relationships can use without worries.

Uses Advanced Encryption: Wire is one of the very few apps that sets end-to-end encryption as the default to protect your communication. A new encryption key is used for every message, so a compromised key has minimal impact. It is a truly secret messaging app that encrypts all your data.

Easy-to-Use: What makes this app stand out from the many others of the same kind is its great design. The app is very easy to use, even for beginners. You can not only send text messages, images and files but also make video calls. You can send voice memos, GIFs, location and also draw pictures. Note that all conversations and exchanges are fully encrypted.

Timed Messages: These messages automatically delete themselves from both the sender’s and the recipient’s devices after a certain amount of time has passed. They are a great way to make sure what you’ve sent will only be available for a limited period. Also, you’ll keep the chat history tidy and save space on your devices.

More Features: Finding other Wire users is as simple as searching by email. If the user is already registered, you’ll see his/her name come up. You can then start a quick conversation with them. You can also lock your Wire app using a password or biometrics. Furthermore, you can verify each conversation partner’s device fingerprints to ensure maximum security.

No Data Storage: While all user data flows through the company’s servers, the only time messages are stored there is if the recipient is not currently online. Thanks to the complete encryption that Wire uses, all messages and files awaiting transfer to their recipients are encrypted and cannot be seen by the company. As soon as a message is delivered to the recipient, it is deleted from company servers. Every sent and the received message is stored in encrypted form on your device. Wire does not sync your messages to any cloud platform.

Metadata Collection: While Wire messenger provides total encryption and great security features, it retains some significant metadata on its servers, including timestamps. This is a worrying factor for all privacy-conscious messenger users. Besides, it is yet to support Two-Factor authentication.

Fully Open-Source: Wire is an open-source messenger program. Its source code is available for users to verify, inspect, and improve through GitHub. Wire does not sell analytics or usage data to third parties. This private messaging app for couples is fully compliant with strict data protection laws in Switzerland and the European Union. Furthermore, it is one of the most publicly audited communication programs in the market.

Some Errors: Many people are experiencing bugs of various kinds while using the app. This definitely needs to be fixed as they affect the core user experience. It is also one of the reasons for the app not having great reviews from the users. In conclusion, Wire is a lightweight yet efficient application that allows you to stay in touch with your partner in a convenient way.

5. Viber Messenger – Chats & Calls

Well-Liked: Viber is one of the oldest messaging apps that continues to be well-liked by couples even today. Setting it up on your phone is a snap. Just enter your phone number and a user name, and Viber more or less does the rest.

Total Encryption: It uses state-of-the-art encryption mechanisms that are recognized as reliable by experts and the community. Messages are encrypted as they travel across the Internet from your device to your recipient’s. Encryption keys exist on user devices and nowhere else. So, no one, not even Viber, can read your messages or listen to your audio/video calls.

Amazing Call-Quality: The call quality is excellent and sounded better than other similar messenger apps. The app is known for stickers, which are larger, more detailed graphics than emoticons. You get a pretty large selection! There is a doodle feature, which lets you draw on the screen to send little doodles to your partner. It’s a fun addition that enables you to add something more to the conversation. Further, you can send GIFs, files and more.

Secret Chats: You can add a self-destruct timer to messages for extra privacy. The time can be set, ranging from seconds to a week. You can also choose to hide any specific chats from your screen and access them later.

Secure Messenger: The unique thing about Viber is that it uses a color-coded system to show how protected a conversation is. Green means the chat is encrypted, and the contact you are connected to is trusted. Grey indicates that the chat is encrypted, but the contact hasn’t been marked as trusted. Red means there is a problem authenticating the contact.

Trusted Contacts: The Trusted Contacts feature helps you verify the other user’s identity in a chat by swapping secret keys. This way, the secret messaging apps for couples will update you if your contact changes their account details in the future. Viber displays your online status, but you can disable this if you ever need to hide it. You can also disable read receipts, and lock messages with a PIN.

Viber Gaming: Viber offers a series of games designed by third-party developers using Viber Connect. Once connected, you can exchange in-game gifts and rewards with your partner, or simply compare scores for bragging rights. If you’re into mobile gaming, Viber makes a strong case for itself compared to other similar messenger apps.

Ads Shown: Viber does collect some metadata about its users. You will witness ads at times while using the app. The company says that showing ads will help them keep Viber free for you to use. However, since Viber has no way to access your private calls or chats to begin with, this also means the company cannot share them for ad targeting. Your information can’t be accessed or sold to third parties or advertisers. So you won’t be targeted by ads related to something you and your partner discussed via chat. This is a notable perk considering many other messaging apps will not refrain from crossing this line.

Avoid Cloud Backup: Similar to WhatsApp, all your chats can be backed up to Google Drive, from where you can restore your chats. Viber says that once you upload your chats to Google, it won’t be responsible for your data protection and privacy will depend on Google’s policy. However, for the sake of security, please disable this feature from the settings and avoid backing up your chats to the cloud. As per recent statistics, this secret couple chat messenger currently has more than 1 billion users globally.

Did You Know?

Did you know that emojis, those small digital images we use to express emotions and ideas, first originated in Japan in the late 1990s? Since their inception, they have become an integral and fascinating part of digital communication, adding color and personality to our messages worldwide.