By Signal is a free and independent messaging and communication software. It can be installed across multiple devices and Operating Systems. This also includes an app for the Linux Desktop.
This tutorial shows how to install Signal on Linux Mint and other Debian-based Linux distributions.
Mobile installation required
Before doing anything on your Linux Desktop, you need to install the Signal app on your mobile device. Yep, similar to Whatsapp, Signal requires an installation on a mobile device first.
The Signal app can be installed for Android and iPhone/iPad. You can also just launch this page on your smartphone's browser.
Hint: Sometimes sponsored apps show up prior to the real Signal app:
Make sure that you install the correct Signal app, which is (currently) labelled as "Signal – Private Messenger".
Installation on Linux using APT repositories
As mentioned before, Signal can be installed on Debian-based Linux distributions. For this purpose Signal has launched their own APT package repositories.
First download the repo GPG key and install it as local APT key:
ck@mint ~ $ curl -fsSL https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt/keys.asc | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee -a /usr/share/keyrings/signal-desktop-keyring.gpgThen add the repository:
ck@mint ~ $ echo 'deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/signal-desktop-keyring.gpg] https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/signal-xenial.list
deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/signal-desktop-keyring.gpg] https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial mainNote: You might ask yourself, why use "xenial" as distribution release? Xenial (Ubuntu 16.04) has been EOL for a long time. The Signal package is distribution/release-independent. "Xenial" serves as a general release placeholder for all Debian-based distributions, including Debian "bookworm", Ubuntu "jammy", and so on.
Update APT and then install signal-desktop:
ck@mint ~ $ sudo apt update
ck@mint ~ $ sudo apt install signal-desktopLaunch Signal
Signal can now be found in the list of applications. Here seen in the Linux Mint menu:
Once started, Signal asks you to scan the QR code with the Signal app:
To do this, open Signal on your mobile device. Use the "3-dot" menu icon in the top right corner, tap on Settings.
Inside Settings tap on "Linked devices". Here you can "Link a new device".
Click on "Link a new device". You might need to enter your Signal pin again or authenticate yourself with a fingerprint. Then you are able to scan the QR code shown on the Linux Desktop.
Finally the Desktop app is now running and you can start using it.
