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Signal for Android: RedPhone and TextSecure in one app

whispersystems.org

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Re: Signal for Android: RedPhone and TextSecure in one app

#31

Post by FredericJ »

deckiedan wrote: post #14

One of the reasons I didn't install WhatsApp is the sheer quantity of permissions it wants (on Android). Yes, I realise that this is part of Android's broken security model. But the Signal app also wants access to practically everything. Device & App History, Identity, Calendar, Contact, Location, SMS, Phone, Photos/Media/Files, Camera, Microphone, WiFi Connection info and Device ID and call info. Call me paranoid, b…

This issue is intrinsic to the security model of Android before Marshmallow.

If an app is going to be able to send a contact, share a location, make a phone call ... all these permissions need to be demanded upfront, which I understand can be scary.

You also need to keep in mind that nobody is going to use "secure messaging" if it's a pain to use. You obviously don't want to be copy pasting contact information in the app for instance.

I'm glad to see that Android is following iOS's permission model where permissions are only asked at run time.

Re: Signal for Android: RedPhone and TextSecure in one app

#32

Post by bad_user »

lorenzhs wrote: post #12
corney91 wrote: post #2

I really want to start using TextSecure (or Signal now I guess), but the only thing holding me back is it depends on Google Play Services. I love what they're doing and can understand the decision, but still thinks it sucks a bit that the best option for secure communications is so tied into Google.

It's mostly because there aren't any real alternatives. Building a world wide push messaging network is really hard (you have to deal with carriers a lot and convince them not to close your long running connections after 5 minutes). That said, the servers support websocket connections as well. I don't know the current state of client support. Also, a Chrome/Chromium extension is in the works.

Making push notifications work well is hard, so it's better to just use what's available. There are alternatives, but the alternatives aren't free at all. See: https://pushy.me/

Re: Signal for Android: RedPhone and TextSecure in one app

#33

Post by SoMuchToGrok »

lorenzhs wrote: post #13
sbt wrote: post #10

I have been using Signal (and TextSecure before that) for a while. The two features that would make me use it more would be: 1. Web client. (I send most of my texts from my laptop, which means I use Hangouts) 2. Search messages on the client. Thanks for a great product and keep up the good work.

A browser extension for Chrome/Chromium is being worked on! You can track it at https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure-Browser

Seems like it would be a natural fit for Firefox over Chrome, but I understand the market share is larger with the latter.

Re: Signal for Android: RedPhone and TextSecure in one app

#34

Post by maxerickson »

deckiedan wrote: post #14

One of the reasons I didn't install WhatsApp is the sheer quantity of permissions it wants (on Android). Yes, I realise that this is part of Android's broken security model. But the Signal app also wants access to practically everything. Device & App History, Identity, Calendar, Contact, Location, SMS, Phone, Photos/Media/Files, Camera, Microphone, WiFi Connection info and Device ID and call info. Call me paranoid, b…

They want, and are getting, normal users to install the app.

For instance:

https://twitter.com/mattblaze/status/658673892685447168

Access to the microphone is sort of justified for a voice app, quite a bit of the others are needed for "full featured" messaging.

Re: Signal for Android: RedPhone and TextSecure in one app

#36

Post by anc84 »

Nexxxeh wrote: post #5

As was mentioned on another HN thread, why the ridiculous name? "Signal" is an already widely used term when talking about mobile communications. With cell phones in particular. "I'm trying to get signal on my phone" or "I'm trying to get Signal on my phone". Great(!)

Only if you talk about it in English which is a fraction of the potential market.

Re: Signal for Android: RedPhone and TextSecure in one app

#37

Post by FredericJ »

Nexxxeh wrote: post #5

As was mentioned on another HN thread, why the ridiculous name? "Signal" is an already widely used term when talking about mobile communications. With cell phones in particular. "I'm trying to get signal on my phone" or "I'm trying to get Signal on my phone". Great(!)

It was originally going to be called "Whisper" (by Open Whisper Systems) ==> https://whispersystems.org/blog/a-whisper/

The name was changed after Whisper was launched https://whisper.sh/

Re: Signal for Android: RedPhone and TextSecure in one app

#38

Post by faded_rights »

lsaferite wrote: post #26
acqq wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> switch from the walled gardens of iOS messaging and WhatsAp Doesn't Signal require my phone number? Isn't it dependent on the Whisper servers? Why isn't it a walled garden then?

>Why isn't it a walled garden then? Because the client and server are both OSS? https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure-Server

Is the RedPhone server component open source?

Re: Signal for Android: RedPhone and TextSecure in one app

#39

Post by mrmondo »

I'm glad it's not called RedPhone for Android users, they may get it confused with YouRed I mean YouTubeRed I mean RedTube or whatever it's called now. In all seriousness though - what was (is) with the trend of apps with Red in the name? Red to me gives the idea of danger or something that's stopped / blocked.

Re: Signal for Android: RedPhone and TextSecure in one app

#40

Post by Natanael_L »

deckiedan wrote: post #14

One of the reasons I didn't install WhatsApp is the sheer quantity of permissions it wants (on Android). Yes, I realise that this is part of Android's broken security model. But the Signal app also wants access to practically everything. Device & App History, Identity, Calendar, Contact, Location, SMS, Phone, Photos/Media/Files, Camera, Microphone, WiFi Connection info and Device ID and call info. Call me paranoid, b…

No idea about device history. Identity to know your number. Contacts for contact discovery (using a privacy protecting protocol). Location for location sharing. SMS because you can send SMS with it. Phone because it can call from it. Media and camera because you can share media. Microphone for calls. WiFi connection for a bit more stable connectivity. Etc...
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