your friends to use the same apps as you do—not

out of loyalty to the apps but because apps are

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instance, paying for meals now involves

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I’ve spent years trying to convince you, dear

reader, to try the Mastodon social platform.

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use SMS, but if you want an encrypted discussion

or want to take advantage of other bells and

whistles, you need to get people on the same app.

Otherwise, you can’t communicate.

I’ve also struggled to get people to join me on

Signal; it just doesn’t do as much as Messages or

WhatsApp. With its new stickers, Signal is letting

everyone know that the app is no longer only for a

small clutch of weirdos like me. It’s for everyone,

and it can do anything the competition can.

A secure tool isn’t a good tool if no one is using it.

In fact, I’d argue that it’s a hindrance to the

overarching goal of making the world a little bit

safer for people.

MAKING SECURITY USABLE

Traditionally, security- and privacy-minded apps

have valued technical expertise over silly little

things like stickers, navigation that makes sense,

and even buttons that work. While these features

might be mostly unnecessary, people want to use

apps that are, well, usable. When faced with the

choice between a frustrating—but secure—

product and one that looks good and is fun to use,

the second option is going to be the most popular.

Being popular is critical for social tools like Signal

to matter. People have built other open-source

M

a

x

E

d

d

y

With stickers,

Signal is letting

everyone know

that the app is

no longer only

for a small

clutch of weir-

dos like me.