Elon Musk’s XChat Lands on the App Store With a Promised April 17 Launch

X’s standalone messaging app is almost here. XChat just appeared on the App Store with a release date of April 17, and it’s packed with features that might actually make it worth your attention.

This isn’t a simple upgrade to X’s existing direct messages. It’s a completely separate app built from the ground up for X users. And if the feature list holds up at launch, it could shake up how people communicate on the platform.

End-to-End Encryption Comes to X Messaging

Elon Musk first floated the idea of a redesigned messaging experience back in mid-2023. At the time, he promised encrypted DMs with a “whole new architecture.” He even said all X users would have it by June of that same year.

That deadline slipped, as Musk timelines often do. But now, rather than a simple DM upgrade, XChat is arriving as its own app. The encryption promise made it through, though. The app is fully end-to-end encrypted, meaning only you and your contacts can read what’s sent.

Plus, the app works across devices. You can chat and make calls whether you’re on an iPhone, iPad, or switching between both.

Privacy Features That Stand Out

XChat comes with a surprisingly solid privacy toolkit. Users can edit or delete messages for everyone in a conversation, not just their own view. That’s a feature many competing apps still haven’t nailed properly.

But the more interesting additions go further. You can block screenshots within chats, which helps keep sensitive conversations actually private. There’s also a disappearing messages option that wipes content after five minutes.

For anyone who’s ever sent something and immediately wished they hadn’t, those two features alone make XChat worth a closer look.

Massive Group Chats and Zero Ads

One number stands out in the App Store listing. XChat supports group chats with up to 481 members. That’s an oddly specific cap, but it’s a genuinely massive number for a messaging app.

X also promises no ads and no user tracking inside XChat. That’s a notable commitment, especially from a platform that relies heavily on advertising revenue. Whether that promise holds long-term remains to be seen, but it’s a strong pitch for anyone tired of being targeted inside their personal conversations.

Should You Pre-Order It?

XChat is available to pre-order right now for iPhone and iPad users. Pre-ordering means the app downloads automatically on your device the moment it goes live on April 17.

Honestly, if you’re already active on X, there’s little reason not to. The privacy features are more robust than what X’s built-in DMs offer, and having a dedicated app means cleaner notifications and a messaging experience that isn’t buried inside a social feed.

The bigger question is whether XChat can carve out space in a crowded field. Signal, WhatsApp, and iMessage already own the encrypted messaging space. XChat’s advantage is its direct connection to the X social graph. If your network lives on X, it removes the friction of finding people on yet another platform.

That’s a real advantage. Whether it’s enough to change your messaging habits is something only the April 17 launch will answer.