diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index d299835..5e83060 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,18 +1,24 @@
-ARG SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION=0.7.4
+ARG SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION=0.8.0
 ARG ZKGROUP_VERSION=0.7.0
+ARG LIBSIGNAL_CLIENT_VERSION=0.2.3
 
 ARG SWAG_VERSION=1.6.7
+ARG GRAALVM_JAVA_VERSION=11
+ARG GRAALVM_VERSION=21.0.0
 
 FROM golang:1.14-buster AS buildcontainer
 
 ARG SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION
 ARG ZKGROUP_VERSION
+ARG LIBSIGNAL_CLIENT_VERSION
 ARG SWAG_VERSION
+ARG GRAALVM_JAVA_VERSION
+ARG GRAALVM_VERSION
 
 COPY ext/libraries/zkgroup/v${ZKGROUP_VERSION} /tmp/zkgroup-libraries
+COPY ext/libraries/libsignal-client/v${LIBSIGNAL_CLIENT_VERSION} /tmp/libsignal-client-libraries
 
-RUN ls -la /tmp/zkgroup-libraries/x86-64
-
+# use architecture specific libzkgroup.so
 RUN arch="$(uname -m)"; \
         case "$arch" in \
             aarch64) cp /tmp/zkgroup-libraries/arm64/libzkgroup.so /tmp/libzkgroup.so ;; \
@@ -20,8 +26,16 @@ RUN arch="$(uname -m)"; \
             x86_64) cp /tmp/zkgroup-libraries/x86-64/libzkgroup.so /tmp/libzkgroup.so ;; \ 
         esac;
 
+# use architecture specific libsignal_jni.so
+RUN arch="$(uname -m)"; \
+        case "$arch" in \
+            aarch64) cp /tmp/libsignal-client-libraries/arm64/libsignal_jni.so /tmp/libsignal_jni.so ;; \
+			armv7l) cp /tmp/libsignal-client-libraries/armv7/libsignal_jni.so /tmp/libsignal_jni.so ;; \
+            x86_64) cp /tmp/libsignal-client-libraries/x86-64/libsignal_jni.so /tmp/libsignal_jni.so ;; \ 
+        esac;
+
 RUN apt-get update \
-	&& apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends wget default-jre software-properties-common git locales zip file \
+	&& apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends wget default-jre software-properties-common git locales zip file build-essential libz-dev zlib1g-dev \
 	&& rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* 
 
 RUN sed -i -e 's/# en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8/en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8/' /etc/locale.gen && \
@@ -48,6 +62,8 @@ RUN cd /tmp/ \
 	&& ./gradlew installDist \
 	&& ./gradlew distTar
 
+# replace zkgroup
+
 RUN ls /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/install/signal-cli/lib/zkgroup-java-${ZKGROUP_VERSION}.jar || (echo "\n\nzkgroup jar file with version ${ZKGROUP_VERSION} not found. Maybe the version needs to be bumped in the signal-cli-rest-api Dockerfile?\n\n" && echo "Available version: \n" && ls /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/install/signal-cli/lib/zkgroup-java-* && echo "\n\n" && exit 1)
 
 RUN cd /tmp/ \
@@ -62,13 +78,57 @@ RUN cd /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/distributions/ \
 	&& tar --delete -vPf /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/distributions/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}.tar signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/lib/zkgroup-java-${ZKGROUP_VERSION}.jar \
 	&& tar --owner='' --group='' -rvPf /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/distributions/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}.tar signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/lib/zkgroup-java-${ZKGROUP_VERSION}.jar
 
+# replace libsignal-client
+
+RUN ls /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/install/signal-cli/lib/signal-client-java-${LIBSIGNAL_CLIENT_VERSION}.jar || (echo "\n\nsignal-client jar file with version ${LIBSIGNAL_CLIENT_VERSION} not found. Maybe the version needs to be bumped in the signal-cli-rest-api Dockerfile?\n\n" && echo "Available version: \n" && ls /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/install/signal-cli/lib/signal-client-java-* && echo "\n\n" && exit 1)
+
+RUN cd /tmp/ \
+	&& zip -u /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/install/signal-cli/lib/signal-client-java-${LIBSIGNAL_CLIENT_VERSION}.jar libsignal_jni.so
+
+RUN cd /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/distributions/ \
+	&& mkdir -p signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/lib/ \
+	&& cp /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/install/signal-cli/lib/signal-client-java-${LIBSIGNAL_CLIENT_VERSION}.jar signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/lib/ \
+	# update zip
+	&& zip -u /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/distributions/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}.zip signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/lib/signal-client-java-${LIBSIGNAL_CLIENT_VERSION}.jar \	
+	# update tar
+	&& tar --delete -vPf /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/distributions/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}.tar signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/lib/signal-client-java-${LIBSIGNAL_CLIENT_VERSION}.jar \
+	&& tar --owner='' --group='' -rvPf /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/distributions/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}.tar signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/lib/signal-client-java-${LIBSIGNAL_CLIENT_VERSION}.jar
+
+
+# build native image with graalvm
+
+RUN arch="$(uname -m)"; \
+        case "$arch" in \
+            aarch64) wget https://github.com/graalvm/graalvm-ce-builds/releases/download/vm-${GRAALVM_VERSION}/graalvm-ce-java${GRAALVM_JAVA_VERSION}-linux-aarch64-${GRAALVM_VERSION}.tar.gz -O /tmp/gvm.tar.gz ;; \
+            armv7l) echo "GRAALVM doesn't support 32bit" ;; \
+            x86_64) wget https://github.com/graalvm/graalvm-ce-builds/releases/download/vm-${GRAALVM_VERSION}/graalvm-ce-java${GRAALVM_JAVA_VERSION}-linux-amd64-${GRAALVM_VERSION}.tar.gz -O /tmp/gvm.tar.gz ;; \ 
+        esac;
+
+RUN if [ "$(uname -m)" = "aarch64" ] || [ "$(uname -m)" = "x86_64" ]; then \
+		cd /tmp && tar xvf gvm.tar.gz \
+		&& export GRAALVM_HOME=/tmp/graalvm-ce-java${GRAALVM_JAVA_VERSION}-${GRAALVM_VERSION} \
+		&& cd /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION} \
+		&& chmod +x /tmp/graalvm-ce-java${GRAALVM_JAVA_VERSION}-${GRAALVM_VERSION}/bin/gu \ 
+		&& /tmp/graalvm-ce-java${GRAALVM_JAVA_VERSION}-${GRAALVM_VERSION}/bin/gu install native-image \
+		&& ./gradlew assembleNativeImage; \
+    elif [ "$(uname -m)" = "armv7l" ]; then \
+		echo "GRAALVM doesn't support 32bit" \
+		&& echo "Creating temporary file, otherwise the below copy doesn't work for armv7" \
+		&& mkdir -p /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/native-image \
+		&& touch /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/native-image/signal-cli; \ 
+    else \
+		echo "Unknown architecture"; \
+    fi;
+
 COPY src/api /tmp/signal-cli-rest-api-src/api
+COPY src/utils /tmp/signal-cli-rest-api-src/utils
 COPY src/main.go /tmp/signal-cli-rest-api-src/
 COPY src/go.mod /tmp/signal-cli-rest-api-src/
 COPY src/go.sum /tmp/signal-cli-rest-api-src/
 
 RUN cd /tmp/signal-cli-rest-api-src && swag init && go build
 
+
 # Start a fresh container for release container
 FROM adoptopenjdk:11-jre-hotspot-bionic
 
@@ -84,6 +144,7 @@ RUN apt-get update \
 
 COPY --from=buildcontainer /tmp/signal-cli-rest-api-src/signal-cli-rest-api /usr/bin/signal-cli-rest-api
 COPY --from=buildcontainer /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/distributions/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}.tar /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}.tar
+COPY --from=buildcontainer /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/build/native-image/signal-cli /tmp/signal-cli-native
 COPY entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh
 
 RUN tar xf /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}.tar -C /opt
@@ -92,9 +153,18 @@ RUN rm -rf /tmp/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}
 RUN groupadd -g 1000 signal-api \
 	&& useradd --no-log-init -M -d /home -s /bin/bash -u 1000 -g 1000 signal-api \
 	&& ln -s /opt/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/bin/signal-cli /usr/bin/signal-cli \
+	&& cp /tmp/signal-cli-native /opt/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/bin/signal-cli-native \
+	&& ln -s /opt/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/bin/signal-cli-native /usr/bin/signal-cli-native \
+	&& rm /tmp/signal-cli-native \
 	&& mkdir -p /signal-cli-config/ \
 	&& mkdir -p /home/.local/share/signal-cli
 
+# remove the temporary created signal-cli-native on armv7, as GRAALVM doesn't support 32bit
+RUN arch="$(uname -m)"; \
+        case "$arch" in \
+            armv7l) echo "GRAALVM doesn't support 32bit" && rm /opt/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/bin/signal-cli-native /usr/bin/signal-cli-native  ;; \
+        esac;
+
 EXPOSE ${PORT}
 
 ENTRYPOINT ["/entrypoint.sh"]
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5c5e42e..d41515c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ version: "3"
 services:
   signal-cli-rest-api:
     image: bbernhard/signal-cli-rest-api:latest
+	environment:
+	  - USE_NATIVE=0
     ports:
       - "8080:8080" #map docker port 8080 to host port 8080.
     volumes:
@@ -31,6 +33,16 @@ services:
 
 ```
 
+## Native Image (EXPERIMENTAL)
+
+On Systems like the Raspberry Pi, some operations like sending messages can take quite a while. That's because signal-cli is a Java application and a significant amount of time is spent in the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) startup. signal-cli recently added the possibility to compile the Java application to a native binary (done via GraalVM).
+
+By adding `USE_NATIVE=1` as environmental variable to the `docker-compose.yml` file the native mode will be enabled. In case there's no native binary available (e.g on a 32 bit Raspian OS), it will fall back to the signal-cli Java application.
+
+* THIS ONLY WORKS ON A 64bit OS!*
+
+## API documentation
+
 The Swagger API documentation can be found [here](https://bbernhard.github.io/signal-cli-rest-api/). If you prefer a simple text file like API documentation have a look [here](https://github.com/bbernhard/signal-cli-rest-api/blob/master/doc/EXAMPLES.md)
 
 In case you need more functionality, please **file a ticket** or **create a PR**.
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 03e7af2..9f1efe2 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
-version: "3"
-services:
-  signal-cli-rest-api:
-    build: "."
-    environment:
-      - PORT=8080
-    ports:
-      - "8080:8080" #map docker port 8080 to host port 8080.
-    volumes:
-      - "./signal-cli-config:/home/.local/share/signal-cli" #map "signal-cli-config" folder on host system into docker container. the folder contains the password and cryptographic keys when a new number is registered
+version: "3"
+services:
+  signal-cli-rest-api:
+    build: "."
+    environment:
+      - USE_NATIVE=0
+      - PORT=8080
+    ports:
+      - "8080:8080" #map docker port 8080 to host port 8080.
+    volumes:
+      - "./signal-cli-config:/home/.local/share/signal-cli" #map "signal-cli-config" folder on host system into docker container. the folder contains the password and cryptographic keys when a new number is registered
diff --git a/ext/libraries/libsignal-client/README.md b/ext/libraries/libsignal-client/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..31be7c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/libraries/libsignal-client/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# HOWTO BUILD
+
+[cross](https://github.com/rust-embedded/cross) is used for cross compiling [libsignal-client](https://github.com/signalapp/libsignal-client).
+
+* download new release from `https://github.com/signalapp/libsignal-client/releases`
+* unzip + change into directory
+* cd into `java` directory
+* run `cross build --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu --release -p libsignal-jni`
+  
+  run `cross build --target armv7-unknown-linux-gnueabihf --release -p libsignal-jni`
+  
+  run `cross build --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu --release -p libsignal-jni`
+to build the library for `x86-64`, `armv7` and `arm64`
+* the built library will be in the `target/<architecture>/release` folder 
+
+## Why?
+
+Building libsignal-client every time a new docker image gets released takes really long (especially for cross platform builds with docker/buildx and QEMU). Furthermore, due to this bug here (https://github.com/docker/buildx/issues/395) we would need to use an ugly workaround for that right now. As libsignal-client isn't released very often I guess it's okay to manually build a new version once in a while.  
diff --git a/ext/libraries/libsignal-client/v0.2.3/arm64/libsignal_jni.so b/ext/libraries/libsignal-client/v0.2.3/arm64/libsignal_jni.so
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eb50a5c
Binary files /dev/null and b/ext/libraries/libsignal-client/v0.2.3/arm64/libsignal_jni.so differ
diff --git a/ext/libraries/libsignal-client/v0.2.3/armv7/libsignal_jni.so b/ext/libraries/libsignal-client/v0.2.3/armv7/libsignal_jni.so
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d7056cc
Binary files /dev/null and b/ext/libraries/libsignal-client/v0.2.3/armv7/libsignal_jni.so differ
diff --git a/ext/libraries/libsignal-client/v0.2.3/x86-64/libsignal_jni.so b/ext/libraries/libsignal-client/v0.2.3/x86-64/libsignal_jni.so
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..25cc713
Binary files /dev/null and b/ext/libraries/libsignal-client/v0.2.3/x86-64/libsignal_jni.so differ
diff --git a/ext/libraries/zkgroup/README.md b/ext/libraries/zkgroup/README.md
index 69d9c59..939a512 100644
--- a/ext/libraries/zkgroup/README.md
+++ b/ext/libraries/zkgroup/README.md
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@
 * download new release from `https://github.com/signalapp/zkgroup/releases`
 * unzip + change into directory
 * run `cross build --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu --release`
+  
   run `cross build --target armv7-unknown-linux-gnueabihf --release`
+  
   run `cross build --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu --release`
 to build the library for `x86-64`, `armv7` and `arm64`
 * the built library will be in the `target/<architecture>/release` folder 
diff --git a/src/api/api.go b/src/api/api.go
index 9b87642..e25cbe1 100644
--- a/src/api/api.go
+++ b/src/api/api.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/h2non/filetype"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	qrcode "github.com/skip2/go-qrcode"
+	utils "github.com/bbernhard/signal-cli-rest-api/utils"
 )
 
 const signalCliV2GroupError = "Cannot create a V2 group as self does not have a versioned profile"
@@ -319,10 +320,21 @@ func runSignalCli(wait bool, args []string, stdin string) (string, error) {
 	} else {
 		log.Debug("*) docker exec -it <container id> /bin/bash")
 	}
-	log.Debug("*) su signal-api")
-	log.Debug("*) signal-cli ", strings.Join(args, " "))
 
-	cmd := exec.Command("signal-cli", args...)
+	signalCliBinary := "signal-cli"
+	if utils.GetEnv("USE_NATIVE", "0") == "1" {
+		if utils.GetEnv("SUPPORTS_NATIVE", "0") == "1" {
+			signalCliBinary = "signal-cli-native"
+		} else {
+			log.Error("signal-cli-native is not support on this system...falling back to signal-cli")
+			signalCliBinary = "signal-cli"
+		}
+	}
+
+	log.Debug("*) su signal-api")
+	log.Debug("*) ", signalCliBinary, " ", strings.Join(args, " "))
+
+	cmd := exec.Command(signalCliBinary, args...)
 	if stdin != "" {
 		cmd.Stdin = strings.NewReader(stdin)
 	}
diff --git a/src/main.go b/src/main.go
index a796fd5..47414b6 100644
--- a/src/main.go
+++ b/src/main.go
@@ -2,14 +2,15 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"flag"
-	"os"
 
 	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	swaggerFiles "github.com/swaggo/files"
 	ginSwagger "github.com/swaggo/gin-swagger"
 	"github.com/bbernhard/signal-cli-rest-api/api"
+	"github.com/bbernhard/signal-cli-rest-api/utils"
 	_ "github.com/bbernhard/signal-cli-rest-api/docs"
+	"os"
 
 )
 
@@ -57,6 +58,16 @@ func main() {
 
 	log.Info("Started Signal Messenger REST API")
 
+	supportsSignalCliNative := "0"
+	if _, err := os.Stat("/usr/bin/signal-cli-native"); err == nil {
+		supportsSignalCliNative = "1"
+	}
+
+	err := os.Setenv("SUPPORTS_NATIVE", supportsSignalCliNative)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal("Couldn't set env variable: ", err.Error())
+	}
+
 	api := api.NewApi(*signalCliConfig, *attachmentTmpDir, *avatarTmpDir)
 	v1 := router.Group("/v1")
 	{
@@ -135,7 +146,7 @@ func main() {
 		}
 	}
 
-	swaggerPort := getEnv("PORT", "8080")
+	swaggerPort := utils.GetEnv("PORT", "8080")
 
 	swaggerUrl := ginSwagger.URL("http://127.0.0.1:" + string(swaggerPort) + "/swagger/doc.json")
 	router.GET("/swagger/*any", ginSwagger.WrapHandler(swaggerFiles.Handler, swaggerUrl))
@@ -143,9 +154,4 @@ func main() {
 	router.Run()
 }
 
-func getEnv(key string, defaultVal string) string {
-	if value, exists := os.LookupEnv(key); exists {
-		return value
-	}
-	return defaultVal
-}
+
diff --git a/src/utils/utils.go b/src/utils/utils.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..14087bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/utils.go
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+package utils
+
+import (
+	"os"
+)
+
+func GetEnv(key string, defaultVal string) string {
+	if value, exists := os.LookupEnv(key); exists {
+		return value
+	}
+	return defaultVal
+}