Social network X is launching its private messaging service, called X Chat, as a standalone app. The company announced on Monday that an initial beta version of the X Chat app was released to 1,000 users via Apple’s TestFlight platform. The beta program reached full capacity just two hours after the announcement.
According to an X post by xAI product designer Michael Boswell, the company plans to expand the beta beyond the initial group of users soon, though no specific timeline was provided. Boswell stated that the team has been quietly building the standalone X Chat app for iOS over the past few months and encouraged testers to use it, break it, and provide feedback.
X Chat is an upgraded version of X’s existing direct messages feature, which the company claims is end-to-end encrypted. However, security experts have warned that the X Chat service is less secure than other encrypted messaging apps, such as Signal, and should not yet be trusted. It remains unclear whether the company has addressed these security concerns in the new standalone app.
The launch of a separate app marks a significant shift from X owner Elon Musk’s original vision of building an “everything app” that would centralize messaging, payments, creator content, and more within a single platform.
A number of early testers have started sharing screenshots of the app’s interface. One user noted that the beta version stylizes the name as “xChat” rather than “X Chat,” which could indicate a potential rebrand. Others have shared images, such as a login screen featuring a starry background.
Early users describe the app as offering a simpler and smoother interface for X Chat compared to the main X app. The current beta version does not include message requests, but Boswell confirmed that feature is being rebuilt.
xAI’s Grok chatbot responded to questions about the new app on X, confirming additional details. It stated the app will carry the same age rating as X, which is 17+ on the iOS App Store. It also confirmed that chats will sync with the main X app and the chat.x.com web app, which launched in December 2025. The AI chatbot added that an Android version of the X Chat app is expected very soon.