Original|Odaily Planet Daily(@OdailyChina)
Author|Wenser(@wenser 2010 )
After nearly a year of anticipation, and several delays from the original April 17th release date to April 23rd and then 24th, XChat, which promotes the concept of a "Western WeChat," has finally launched. However, contrary to many people's expectations, the newly launched XChat, despite its focus on "encrypted communication," offers a messaging experience not much different from X Platform's (Twitter) direct messages.
Odaily Planet Daily, in a first-look review of this social app that Musk has high hopes for, discovered some "interesting" aspects. Let's all evaluate whether it can become another dark horse in Western social media after Facebook and Instagram (Threads).
Interesting Point No.1: End-to-End Encryption to Casually Reference BTC?
In June last year, when Musk first teased XChat, he stated that the X platform would soon launch a new version of the chat tool XChat, which would support end-to-end encryption, self-destructing messages, sending any file type, and audio/video call functions.
Furthermore, he emphasized that XChat is developed in Rust and incorporates an encryption architecture similar to Bitcoin's, with a completely refactored overall architecture, allowing users to make voice/video calls on all platforms without needing a phone number. (Doesn't that sound like WeChat voice/video calls?)
Although subsequently, some cryptocurrency practitioners and cryptographers pointed out that the core functionality of Bitcoin's blockchain is not traditional encryption, and Musk's statement was "purely a hard reach."
In summary, the communication encryption technology of XChat and the cryptographic technology of BTC are not exactly the same; one could say they are completely unrelated.
Interesting Point No.2: No Ads, Aiming to Be "One of the Safest Communication Systems"
On November 2nd last year, Musk was a guest on Joe Rogan's podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience" (Odaily Planet Daily Note: This podcast has an annual revenue of up to $250 million, making it one of the most listened-to radio podcasts in the US) for a deep 3-hour conversation.
During it, Musk stated that he believes the US is a society once eroded by an "ideological virus," which was his original motivation for acquiring Twitter. His goal is to "let the truth be heard" and to build a secure social communication platform (i.e., XChat).
His exact words were: "I don't think any communication system can be called 'perfectly secure,' only 'differently insecure.' XChat uses a 'peer-to-peer encrypted system,' somewhat similar to Bitcoin's technology, with strong resistance to attacks, and we are testing it thoroughly. XChat has no advertising hooks, whereas other communication apps like WhatsApp have ad-related clickbait. They collect your chat information to push targeted ads. This is a huge security vulnerability—if an app can collect enough information to push ads, it means it's collecting a vast amount of private data. They say 'don't worry, it's just for targeted ads,' but others can also use this clickbait to view your information. XChat has no advertising-related functions whatsoever.
I wouldn't say it's absolutely perfect, but our goal is for XChat to replace the old Twitter DMs (Twitter Direct Messages) and become a fully encrypted system. I believe it will be 'one of the safest communication systems.'"
So far, this seems to be achieved, because XChat is currently so simplistic that it has no other pages, only a single [Chats] page.
Interesting Point No.3: Disabled Screenshot Function Malfunctions(?)
Before XChat's release, many were highly interested in its "disable screenshots" function. According to previous beta versions and the settings of the officially launched app, this function is optional.
However, based on my own attempts, it seems that even when enabled, one can still take screenshots directly in the XChat group chat interface, but the screenshot image only shows the group chat icons without the chat content; whereas taking a screenshot in the X Platform group chat interface displays "This chat is protected, screenshots are not allowed."
Interface shown after screenshot attempt in X Platform group chat
XChat group chat screenshot display
Specific path: [Group] -> [Click group icon] -> [Block Screenshots] -> [Enable/Disable].
Interesting Point No.4: Supports 45 Languages, Age Rating 16+
According to AppStore app information, XChat supports 45 languages including Chinese, German, Japanese, Russian, Korean, etc. Additionally, its user age rating is 16+, meaning it "Includes profanity or crude humor, sexual content or nudity; unrestricted web access, information, and chat". In contrast, WeChat's age rating is 13+. From this perspective, XChat's content尺度 (scale/allowance) is somewhat larger.
Also attached is the detailed AppStore age rating description:
18+ requirements seem slightly broad
Interesting Point No.5: Login Interface Requires Verification of X Account Bound Email
Contrary to pre-launch speculation, the XChat login homepage is an interface to verify the email bound to the user's X platform account. If you don't remember the email associated with your X account, you can check it under [Settings and Privacy] -> [Your Account] -> [Account Information]. If you had 2FA enabled before, you also need to enter the 6-digit verification code.
Although the reason for this operation is not entirely clear: Is it for convenient user email outreach later? Or for KYC policy?暂时不得而知 (Temporarily unknown).
First look upon entering XChat
Interesting Point No.6: Is Encryption Just Superficial?
The previously promoted concept of "encrypted privacy" doesn't feel very obvious currently.
Personal testing shows that messages in the XChat interface are similar to those in the X Platform group interface, just with an additional display of [Encrypted - Yes].
As for the optional setting for [Whether Encrypted], it is not displayed in this version.
"Encrypted" display after long-pressing a message -> clicking "Info" in XChat
Display interface after long-pressing a message -> clicking "Info" in X Platform group chat
Interesting Point No.7: Group Message Self-Destruct Times Range from 5 Minutes to 4 Weeks
In the XChat group settings, after clicking [Disappearing Messages], you can set the self-destruct duration for group messages. The times are: 5 minutes, 1 hour, 8 hours, 1 day, 1 week, 4 weeks.
According to the note on this function's interface, this duration should be calculated from the time a group member reads the message, not from the time the message was sent.
Specific path: [Group icon] -> [Disappearing Messages]
Interesting Point No.8: XChat Groups Open Invitation Link Function
This function is relatively conventional.
It's worth mentioning that XChat groups share the invitation link function with X Platform groups. If disabled, even if others have the link, they cannot join the group.
XChat group invitation link settings interface
Interesting Point No.9: XChat Group Member Limit Might Be 1000 People
This point was mentioned in a post by X Platform product lead Nikita Bier previously. The group chat capacity of XChat has not been thoroughly tested yet.
Not long ago, Nikita himself announced the migration of the platform's original Community feature to XChat groups, with a transition deadline of May 30th.
Additionally, he mentioned, "will be increasing the XChat group (member) limit to 500 members, and aiming for 1000 members in the coming weeks. This should cover all communities on X except for a few." Of course, this presumptuous functional setting attracted heavy criticism from X platform users.
Message posted by Nikita himself on April 23rd, which drew a lot of angry comments
Interesting Point No.10: App Icons Include 8 Varieties, and Bubbles are Extremely Similar to WeChat Bubbles
As shown in previous beta versions, the official version of XChat also prepared white, black, purple, green, orange, pink, gray, and yellow icons—8 colors in total—for users to switch between. Although it's a very small feature, it still adds a touch of much-needed human feel to this chat app focused on encryption and privacy.
Furthermore, XChat's message deletion function seems borrowed from Telegram, offering "Delete for me" and "Delete for everyone".
Finally, the functions mentioned before XChat's release—one-click import of X contacts and social graph, seamless use of Grok AI, X Money payments, Cashtags—are all temporarily unavailable.
Of course, it's only XChat's first day; there's plenty of time for trial/error and iteration. Let the bullet fly for a while~
