X rolls out DM feature ‘XChat’ to beta testers

In a remarkable development, Elon Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has introduced a new direct messaging (DM) feature called “XChat.”

Currently, available to a limited group of beta testers, the feature is accessible to some users subscribed to the platform’s premium service.

The “XChat” feature is positioned as a significant upgrade to X’s current DM system, which has remained mostly unchanged since Musk acquired the company.

The upcoming system is expected to offer a more modern and secure messaging experience.

Although the platform has not officially released a full list of XChat features, several have been rumoured or hinted at.

These include group messaging, end-to-end encryption, disappearing messages, a “mark as unread” option, and support for file sharing.

Additionally, some reports also suggested that the messages will be protected by a four-digit passcode.

Coinciding with the rollout of XChat, the company is pausing the development of its current encrypted DM feature.

This shift likely indicates that XChat will replace the existing messaging system, especially since a basic version of encrypted DMs has been available to paid users for the past two years.

For those unversed, encrypted DMs were introduced in 2023, but only for verified users. The feature had several limitations, including the lack of support for group chats and the restriction of encryption to only text and links.