TextSecure
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Screenshots of TextSecure
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| Original author(s) |
Moxie Marlinspike and Stuart Anderson (Whisper Systems) |
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| Developer(s) | Open Whisper Systems and community |
| Initial release | May 25, 2010 |
| Last release |
2.28.1
(September 29, 2015) |
| Repository | https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure, https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure-Server |
| Development status | Discontinued (merged with RedPhone to become Signal) |
| Written in | Java (client and server) |
| Operating system | Android |
| Size | 11 MB |
| Available in | 34 languages |
| Type | Encrypted instant messaging |
| License |
GPLv3 (client), AGPLv3 (server) |
| Website | whispersystems |
TextSecure was a free and open-source encrypted messaging application for Android that was first released in May 2010. It was developed by Open Whisper Systems and used end-to-end encryption to secure the transmission of instant messages, group messages, attachments and media messages to other TextSecure users. In November 2015, TextSecure was merged with an encrypted voice calling application called RedPhone and was renamed as Signal.
TextSecure was the first application to use the , which has since been implemented into WhatsApp and other applications.
TextSecure started as an application for sending and receiving encrypted SMS messages. Its beta version was first launched in May 25, 2010, by Whisper Systems, a startup company co-founded by security researcher Moxie Marlinspike and roboticist Stuart Anderson. In addition to launching TextSecure, Whisper Systems produced a firewall, tools for encrypting other forms of data, and RedPhone, an application that provided encrypted voice calls. All of these were proprietary enterprise mobile security software.
In November 2011, Whisper Systems announced that it had been acquired by Twitter. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed by either company. The acquisition was done "primarily so that Mr. Marlinspike could help the then-startup improve its security". Shortly after the acquisition, Whisper Systems' RedPhone service was made unavailable. Some criticized the removal, arguing that the software was "specifically targeted [to help] people under repressive regimes" and that it left people like the Egyptians in "a dangerous position" during the events of the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
Twitter released TextSecure as free and open-source software under the GPLv3 license in December 2011. RedPhone was also released under the same license in July 2012. Marlinspike later left Twitter and founded Open Whisper Systems as a collaborative Open Source project for the continued development of TextSecure and RedPhone.
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