Musk Pushes X Chat Into Messaging Battle With WhatsApp, Snapchat

Elon Musk is taking a major step toward turning his social platform X into an “everything app” by pushing X Chat into the highly competitive messaging space dominated by apps like WhatsApp and Snapchat. The new messaging service has begun rolling out as a standalone beta product for iPhone users, while an Android version is expected to arrive soon.

Until now, X Chat has operated within the broader X platform. However, the latest move suggests that Musk and his team are testing the messaging service as a separate app to evaluate its performance, stability, and appeal among users.

The early beta phase has been limited to around 1,000 iOS users. According to reports, the available slots were filled within just two hours after the testing program went live. The company plans to expand the trial to nearly 5,000 users in the coming weeks as it continues refining the app’s features and reliability.

Musk has long spoken about his vision of transforming X into a multifunctional platform that goes beyond social media. His goal is to integrate messaging, payments, and other digital services into a single ecosystem similar to the “super app” concept popular in some parts of the world. Launching X Chat as a standalone service could help accelerate that strategy, allowing the company to improve the app’s functionality and deliver a more stable user experience.

The messaging service aims to attract users with features that rival existing platforms. However, several capabilities — including voice and video calling — are still under development and are expected to arrive in future updates.

Musk has also positioned X Chat as a more secure messaging option compared with some of its competitors. In a recent post, he encouraged people to switch messaging platforms.

“WhatsApp is not secure. Even Signal is questionable. Use X Chat," Musk wrote in a post on X.

However, the claim sparked debate on the platform itself. A Community Notes clarification was later attached to the post, indicating that the statement might be misleading. The note highlighted that while X Chat supports end-to-end encryption, it currently lacks forward secrecy — a security feature that ensures past messages remain protected even if encryption keys are compromised.

The clarification further stated that private encryption keys in X Chat are controlled by the platform and secured using a four-digit PIN. It also pointed out that metadata may still be collected by the service.

In contrast, the note added that Signal offers forward secrecy, device-stored encryption keys, and minimal metadata collection, making it one of the most privacy-focused messaging platforms currently available.

Despite the ongoing debate around its security claims, X Chat represents another important step in Musk’s broader plan to expand X beyond its role as a social media network. If the company successfully develops competitive messaging features and gains user trust, the app could emerge as a new challenger in the crowded messaging market.

For now, however, the service remains in its early testing phase, and several questions remain about its long-term privacy standards, reliability, and feature set as development continues.