Signal is probably the best option available for Android users who want a secure personal messaging app. Since the beginning of 2021, the app has increased its user base substantially and hit 50 million installs on Play Store earlier this year. Even though it's private and secure, users still get annoying spam messages which can be extremely irritating. In its fight against spammers, Signal has made some modifications to its message requests and link handling.

With the huge increase in users, Signal has inevitably attracted more scammers as well. Other messaging platforms rely on inspection of plaintext conversation content or social-graph analysis to determine spam, but since Signal does not have the access to user data or metadata, the company has found another way to strengthen its protection from spammers. To achieve this, it will use a dedicated private server to detect spam campaigns so that it can stop these from getting through to any users.

Signal first introduced message requests last year, allowing you to accept, delete, or block messages from someone who isn't in your contacts. To prevent potential spammers from seeing or misusing your profile photo, the app will now start blurring it for all conversations initiated by unknown senders. You'll need to tap on the photo in each chat to allow it to be seen. This will make sure that no random stranger can steal use your profile photo and use it for nefarious purposes.

Signal says this feature is being introduced as the support team received input from users saying they were getting more and more spammy message requests. Some users even reported they got messages along the lines of “Attractive Young Singles In Their Area” using provocative profile photos in an attempt to lure people into traps. Once you see that it’s a spam message, you can instantly block it and also report it as spam.

Furthermore, to deter people from clicking on questionable links, Singal will stop linkifying URLs rendered on the message request screen. With these new modifications, the app will hope to stay one step ahead of the spammers. Even with this UX change and the addition of spam-fighting server code, Signal's core promise still applies — conversations you have on the app will still stay between you and your recipients, and no one else.