iMessage has end-to-end encryption.
No mobile client (for Android or Windows Phone), no desktop client (for Windows or Linux).
Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app with mobile and native clients?
11–17 of 17 posts
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app with mobile and native clients?
#12SpiderOak is currently developing "Semaphor"; an end-to-end, zero-knowledge collaboration platform with native clients on mobile and desktop: https://spideroak.com/solutions/semaphor
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app with mobile and native clients?
#13We ssh into a box and run unix "talk" ...
More seriously, is there a reason for native? Just it's a fairly arbitrary request without more detail, since a network connection is needed anyway. eg. WhatsApp web client is good enough that it 'feels' native.
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app with mobile and native clients?
#14Terminology nit: s/encrypted/secure/ - lots of systems that have encryption are pretty insecure. As to the question, how about OTR+XMPP or Signal. Signal desktop is in beta. I don't think you need to worry about running the desktop Chrome extension on iOS since there's a native iOS app too?
I'll have to look into OTR+XMPP. I was hoping for something straightforward for non-technical folks to use as well. Any recommendations on clients? What I meant by iOS/Chrome is that you currently can't setup the desktop (Chrome) app with an iOS device, it's Android only.
OTR has issues in instant messaging (if the messages arrive out-of-order you have to restart the session). Also, OTR's security is session based while Axolotl's is message based (Axolotl is an improvement on OTR that Signal uses).
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app with mobile and native clients?
#15I'm very happy with Threema (even though there's no Desktop client yet), and I'd certainly never use Signal because it's backed by the US government: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8106721
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app with mobile and native clients?
#16Signal now has a desktop version which runs with Google Chrome: https://whispersystems.org/blog/signal-desktop/
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app with mobile and native clients?
#17I'm very happy with Threema (even though there's no Desktop client yet), and I'd certainly never use Signal because it's backed by the US government: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8106721
+1 for Threema. The servers are located in Switzerland, it's a good iOS citizen with a clean interface, and it offers some unique features (e.g., polling).