WhatsApp introduces its new privacy policy recently due to which signal emphasizing and getting much more attention for its privacy and security it offers.

If you make your mind to protect your privacy and go for the signal. Then you came to the right place. You can easily install signal on your Linux desktop using snap store plus using the default package manager.

Today, we do not cover what type of feature signal has to offers. I hope you already know by now. We mostly focus on the installation part.

Below I am showing a different method of installing the signal application on your Linux desktop.

• Installing Signal on Linux using snap (Easy to install and get the update automatically but takes longer time to load)
• Installing Signal on Linux using Flatpak package (Easy to install but currently not maintained by officials)
• Installing Signal on Debian/Ubuntu distribution using APT (Takes few more steps to install but fast load up and update automatically)
• Installing Signal on Arch/Manjaro using AUR
• Installing Signal on CentOS/Fedora

Installing Signal on Linux using snap

If you were using Ubuntu or any other Debian based distribution, you could easily install signal using the snap store.

$ sudo snap install signal-desktop

The above command easily installs a signal in your system. after that, search the signal in your application menu search bar to open.

If you wish to remove the signal for any reason, type or copy-paste the below command.

$ sudo snap remove signal-desktop

Most people do not like snap because it takes too long to load. If you have that kind of issue, follow the below method to install using from the Flatpak.

Installing Signal on Linux using Flatpak package

The signal is available on Flatpak, and you can easily use it as an alternative to the snap store.

$ flatpak install flathub org.signal.Signal

To run signal from flatpak use the following command.

$ flatpak run org.signal.Signal

Suppose you do not want to use 3rd store to install the signal. Then you can easily go for the default repository method to install signal on your Linux desktop.

Installing Signal on Debian/Ubuntu distribution using APT

You can easily install a signal using its official repository. If you use Ubuntu or distribution like Pop OS, Linux Mint, elementary OS based on Debian/Ubuntu, you can go well.

First, we have to add a signal official GPG key to your APT package manager’s trusted keys.

$ wget -O- https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt/keys.asc | sudo apt-key add -

After adding the key, you can safely add a signal official repository in your system using the following command.

$ echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/signal-xenial.list

Now that we added a signal official repository in our system. We need to update and install it from the terminal.

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install signal-desktop

Now, Signal is successfully installed on your Linux desktop.

If you ever wish to remove this application from your system, pass the following command to your terminal.

$ sudo apt remove signal-desktop

You may leave now as it is, or you can also remove the PPA of the signal. If you do not remove PPA, you can easily install the signal in the future. Otherwise, you have to perform previous steps again to install the signal on your desktop.

If you want to remove a signal repository from your system. Use the below command to remove it.

$ rm -i /etc/apt/sources.list.d/signal-xenial.list

Installing Signal on Arch/Manjaro using AUR

If you use arch or any arch-based distribution like Manjaro, you can easily install signal using AUR (Arch user repository). For that, make sure to have an AUR handler in your system like yay.

$ yay -Sy signal

If you wish to remove it, then pass the following command in your terminal.

$ yay -Rs signal

Installing Signal on CentOS/Fedora

There is no separate package available for CentOS/Fedora. If you wish to install a signal in this distribution, go for the flatpak method mentioned previously.

Conclusion

Signal and Telegram emphasizing this day a lot due to the sudden spike showing in their active users. Both guarantee security and privacy to the user, and the signal is a non-profit organization. But again, to maintain security, you have to be educated.

If you have any queries or questions regarding this topic, feel free to pull the request in the comment section.

Jake Redfield

Innovative tech mind with 12 years of experience working as a computer programmer, web developer, and security researcher. Capable of working with a variety of technology and software solutions, and managing databases.