Wire, a secure messaging app set up by former Skype employees, now features extended encryption capabilities, to include all conversation content – text messages, video calls and photos – as it said it has “fundamentally” changed the way it works.

It also added video calling, its top requested feature, on Wire for iOS, Android, Mac and Windows.

“We believe Wire is the only solution in the market to offer fully encrypted audio calls, video calls and group chats that work across all devices. The encryption is transparent, it’s always on,” it said in a blog.

“Unlike specialised security apps we do not sacrifice usability for security  –  there is no set-up or configuration and the encryption does not get in the way,” it added.

It was also acknowledged that there are some issues with the app which need to be addressed. For instance, on iOS it is not always possible to receive a call (voice or video) if the app is not running in the background.

It is also using “VoIP” style notifications because they are processed natively by the app and can be encrypted end-to-end, as opposed to standard push notifications that are processed by iOS and transmit plain text. However, these notifications are not as robust as the standard push notifications.

It added that battery life is also slightly impacted by the use of VoIP style notifications.

Back in December 2014, when the app launched, after being in development for two years, the company said it planned to earn money by selling add-ons within the app but would avoid using personal data to target advertising.

Its co-founder and CEO, Jonathan Christensen, was an executive at Skype. Priidu Zilmer, one of Skype’s first designers, is also part of the team, along with Koen Vos, a former Skype technical architect.

Earlier this week, Confide, makers of an app described as a secure messenger for business, raised $1.6 million as it looks to enable users to “communicate digitally with the same level of privacy and security as the spoken word”.