Signal is one of the best messaging apps for privacy-conscious people, but its biggest criticism was that it used your phone number to sign up and message other people. The company has now addressed that flaw, and your phone number is now hidden by default in Signal. However, you’ll still need to take the time to change a few preferences to hide your phone number completely.

You can now create your Signal username. To protect your privacy and reduce unwanted messages, Signal insists on adding two numbers to the end of your handle. If your preferred username is Lifehacker, your Signal handle should look something like this: @Lifehacker.76. If you change your username, you’ll get a new set of numbers at the end. Once your username is created, you’ll be taken back to your profile page. You can tap QR Code or Link to see your personal profile link and a QR code. Share this with people you trust and they can use it to message you on Signal.

Pranay Parab is an independent tech journalist based in Mumbai, India. He writes about tech for Lifehacker and specializes in tutorials and in-depth features.

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