X has officially launched XChat, its standalone messaging application, making it publicly available on iOS devices following a beta testing period with a select group of users earlier in the year. The new app allows users to connect with their X contacts for messaging, file sharing, audio and video calls, and group chats, positioning it as a dedicated private communication platform separate from the main X social feed and distinct from the direct messaging feature the platform had previously offered within its primary application.
At launch, XChat includes messaging, calling, and several privacy-focused tools. Users can edit and delete messages for everyone in a chat. The app also supports disappearing messages and includes screenshot blocking. X said the platform contains no ads or tracking systems, and the company also claimed that all messages are end-to-end encrypted and PIN-protected. XChat supports group chats with up to 500 members, with the limit potentially expanding to 1,000 members in the coming weeks, making it a plausible alternative not just for one-on-one private communication but for the kind of community-scale group discussions that were previously housed within X’s Communities feature. X has confirmed it is shutting down Communities, citing low usage and high spam levels, with XChat positioned as the natural destination for community members looking to continue those group conversations in a more controlled environment. The app is built in Rust with Bitcoin-style encryption, though security experts who examined XChat at launch warned that it appeared less secure than established encrypted messaging applications like Signal, and whether those concerns have been addressed in the broader public release remains to be seen.
The launch represents a notable shift from X owner Elon Musk’s earlier vision of making X an everything app, where an algorithmic feed, messaging, job boards, and payments would all coexist in a single place. Instead, xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence company that now owns X, appears to be building out a suite of separate applications to create more consumer touchpoints across its services, a strategy that has already drawn pointed commentary online, with observers noting the irony of an everything app requiring multiple applications to access its core functions. X lead designer Benji Taylor described the launch as just the beginning of what the company is building for messaging, signalling that further features and improvements are planned as the product matures. XChat is currently available exclusively on iOS and requires iOS 26.0 or later, with no Android release date yet announced. It can be downloaded from the App Store, with the company describing it as a private, focused space built for conversation with anyone on X.
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