Dumbphone Punkt gets support for calling and chatting via Signal

Swiss company Punkt has announced support for the Signal protocol for its 4G dumbphone MP02. The phone will receive support for encrypted calling and chatting via the Pigeon app.

As far as we know, the Punkt MP02 is the first dumbphone with Signal support. Owners of an MP02 dumbphone can install Pigeon for free to enable encrypted chatting and calling via Signal. Users can also take advantage of features such as group chats, self-destructing messages, one-time image viewing and pin protection.

According to the makers, Pigeon is based on the Signal app, but designed to access the Signal network from a voicephone. It is therefore optimized for a small screen and keypad interface. The focus is on encrypted calls with other Signal users, but sending messages is also possible.

The Punkt MP02 itself dates from 2018 and although it runs a modified version of Android 8.1, it is not intended for running apps. The phone does have 4G support, but no touchscreen. The 2″ screen only displays black and white and has a resolution of 320×240 pixels. The device also contains a Snapdragon 210, 2GB Lpddr3 and 16GB emmc storage. With dimensions of 117mm by 51.3mm, it is a compact device and the weight is 100 grams Punkt asks 329 euros for the MP02.