XChat is now on the App Store, where its listing says it is expected to be available for download on April 17. This is not the same IRC app from the early aughts that you may remember when you were of a certain age. This is a messaging app especially for X users. X chief Elon Musk first talked about launching a new version of his social network’s direct messaging feature in mid-2025. In a series of posts at the time, he said the new version would be encrypted and have a “completely new architecture.” He also said that all X users were getting XChat in June last year, but Musk is notorious for being overly optimistic about timelines.
Now, instead of the upgraded DM feature on X, users are getting a standalone app. This allows them to chat with anyone on X and call each other across devices. The app is end-to-end encrypted and will let users edit and delete their messages for all participants in the conversation. It will also allow users to block screenshots and enable disappearing messages if they want sensitive details sent in chats to disappear within five minutes. The app also allows users to create large-scale group chats with up to 481 members. X promised in its App Store listing that XChat will not contain ads and will not track users.
Users can now pre-order XChat for iPhones and iPads so that it will automatically download to their devices when it comes out.
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