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Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#351

Post by rubin55 »

raziel2p wrote: post #339
incrudible wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like to think the problem is that "the nerds" have failed the rest of the people. People used to listen to us about computer stuff. Then computers became usable without us. Then smartphones arrived. We gladly were relieved of our obligations, but also of our influence. It's too late to go back. People are already used to the trade-offs, convenience rules above all. People may be "sort of concerned" about privacy, b…

Eh, it's not like "the nerds" can build a better product in terms of UX anyway, and definitely can't market it better. Besides, who says "the nerds" are trustworthy anyway? They keep arguing among each other about which operating system or programming language is best, and why should we take their advice when software security vulnerabilities keep being discovered? Not disagreeing with your point - it's become too ea…

What’s wrong with ‘wall’ or ‘irssi’! ;)

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#352

Post by px43 »

yedpodtrzitko wrote: post #238

Line ( https://line.me ) is pretty popular in several Asian countries, so I started to use it during my time there. Its desktop app is really good, so now I'm sticking with it whenever possible.

Is it encrypted? It's really annoying that modern chat apps without end to end encryption are even a thing. This is a solved problem now, several open source, drop in replacements exist to secure messaging.

It'll be really sad if a bunch of people leave WhatsApp, which actually had good encryption, for services that don't even try to protect users.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#353

Post by arsalanb »

pelasaco wrote: post #190
Lazare wrote: post #56

Telegram is a great IM experience . The client is good, feature set is good, the stickers are amusing (if you're into that kind of thing), the feature set is complete and everything is polished. Telegram is, I think, going to be one of the easier sells if you're trying to convince non-technical users to switch from WhatsApp or FB Messenger. The privacy, security, and governance story is not great though. If you care…

if with Telegram "the privacy, security, and governance story is not great though", why would you migrate from WhatsApp to Telegram in first place? I personally have all 3 (Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram) and use all three with different groups and scenarios. For example: - With my mom and grandmom: WhatsApp - Group of friends from jiu-jitsu: WhatsApp - Work Colleagues and friends working with Network Security: Signal…

/aside: does "how full my gym is right now" work with an API?

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#354

Post by ssivark »

voidmain0001 wrote: post #285
boraoztunc wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is happening. First they get surprised that communication is possible beyond WA, even exactly the same. My mother's reaction was hilarious after sending me photos from Signal, free of charge. She was thinking only WA is free, every other app will charge her. I had to explain that calling, voice or video is also possible, without any payment.

How is free sustainable for Signal? I understand why WA is free based on data collection, but Signal just seems too benevolent toward its users. I read up on Signal Foundation (Acton and Marlinspike) as a non-profit which is being buoyed along by $100M from Acton. Mozilla is a non profit too, but it gets money from Google for placing Google search in Firefox. Where is the long term cash flow for Signal?

I wouldn’t be surprised if the WhatsApp founders, between the two of them, can easily sponsor Signal’s lean team for decades. (Since they’ve shown the inclination with substantive initial investments already, I’d imagine that they’ll happily keep funding if Signal continues to be used)

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#355

Post by reitanqild »

jbotz wrote: post #283
apexalpha wrote: post #155

Where is the "Don't switch" option? Because as much as I hate that Facebook bought them, they're part of what I would call "critical social infrastructure." Asking to leave WhatsApp is like cancelling your contract with your ISP and going offline just because you don't like the company.

Well, I don't know where parent is located, but here in Brazil they are pretty much right. Everybody has WhatsApp... it's assumed that if you have a phone you have WhatsApp. A lot of financial transactions are conducted by doing a bank transfer and then sending the receipt via WhatsApp. The schools send essential messages to parents via WhatsApp. During lockdowns, stores were taking delivery orders via WhatsApp. What…

> Well, I don't know where parent is located, but here in Brazil they are pretty much right. Everybody has WhatsApp...

In my circles WhatsApp usage was pervasive and I was one of those who really pushed for it.

Soon after it became obvious that Facebook was still Facebook even with WhatsApp on board we started pushing for Telegram (remember this was probably before Signal existed in its current form and long before Matrix became mainstream.)

It took two years or so calendar time, a few hours work I think - mostly advocacy - and included moving people from early teenage to late eighties, but was mostly painless and definitely worth it because of usability alone, even if the most important point was to keep our social graps out of the hands of future Cambridge Analyticas and whoever else Facebook wants to sell it to. (And I've hopefully learned not to underestimate grannies..!)

Today I'd probably pushed for Matrix, but as mentioned above that was not an option then.

Signal is also really nice despite one or a few big security problems (remotely exploit in the desktop client being the big one for me). Also it is US centric with all the problems that comes with it, it prioritizes security above everything and UX actually suffers from it and it isn¨t open, so as far as I can see we are locked in should they turn bad.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#360

Post by skrap »

I am going to try to move my family to Matrix (via Element.io). I really hate the walled gardens. The fact that people still use email addresses from decades ago is pretty good proof of the powers of federation. Wish me luck :)
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