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Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#521

Post by mkmk2 »

londons_explore wrote: post #220
pelasaco wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

It's about time someone made a unified messenger client that combines all these conversations and hides the detail of which service you are using to talk to friends.

Is there a reason why there isn't a client that can work with matrix/signal/telegram/any service with open source clients available? Are there any existing OSS projects which have made any progress in this domain?

People are right, it doesn't solve the issue with Whatsapp, but it would mitigate some of the barrier caused by the network effect. I'm also sceptical of walled gardens, something usable in this domain would make this less of a problem when some drama rises over Telesignix, switching clients is a lot less of an ask than switching everything.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#523

Post by discardedrefuse »

llimos wrote: post #77

How many people answering this poll have the power to determine which platform all their contacts move to?

Sometimes its about opportunity. I've been using Telegram for years with just a handful of people (and a bunch of bots...love Telegram's API). About 8 months ago my niece discovered that WhatsApp was owned by Facebook (so uncool) and switched to Telegram all on her own. I took that opportunity to onboard my mom and sister who then brought on some mutual friends. And just like that...WhatsApp was gone from my phone! This new agreement might hatch similar opportunities.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#525

Post by 411111111111111 »

jimbokun wrote: post #448
raziel2p wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Eh, it's not like "the nerds" can build a better product in terms of UX anyway, and definitely can't market it better. Um, the original WhatsApp company was pretty much run by nerds, I thought, who made a product with UX so good they organically built a user base so large that FaceBook paid $16 billion for the company?

The service even cost money. A chat service for which you paid money to use. That was actually the argument why a lot of people used it, because "if you're paying for it, you know that they don't have shady business practices"

The only thing that surprises me is how long this change took. I expected them to do this when they removed the subscription.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#526

Post by zinekeller »

kyrra wrote: post #368
zinekeller wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mainly because of the fact that it is de facto controlled by Google (via Jibe).

I'm a Googler opinions are my own. While Google is the main implementer of RCS servers and clients, a few larger carriers have done their own implementation of it, with no need for Google. Client side, I believe Samsung had their own implementation for it? And Apple could make iMessage RCS compatible, they just have chosen not to at this point. Edit: to add, RCS does support 1:1 encryption now, though I don't believe…

> a few larger carriers have done their own implementation of it

And that's why I think RCS shoot itself into the foot.

I understand that Google does want to accelerate RCS implementation, and some carriers have actively chose to use Jibe.

The main problem I think is that RCS is not differentiated from SMS, especially for those who have a carrier which didn't deployed it yet. In well-developed areas, it make full sense not to differentiate it. However, I don't think (and have some anecdotal evidence) that RCS was not designed to handle the (relatively) common case of an RCS user sending RCS to an "RCS" contact while that contact is offline. In certain areas, data connectivity is not cheap which means that the user explicitly controls mobile data connectivity and Google is amplifying the problem by actively prompting the user to use RCS even when the carrier does not support it. This leads into important messages not being received, which makes sense if RCS replaced another IP-based communication protocol but SMS is circuit-switched and does not rely on IP infrastructure, and more importantly SMS is much, much reliable relative to RCS (especially if it is not officially supported by the carrier).

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#527

Post by leshow »

If you care about encryption telegram is not a good option, it shouldn't be presented as an alternative IMO, neither should discord. Signal is the only real alternative if you care about your chats being encrypted-- I heard matrix is e2e encrypted also so maybe that's another choice...

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#528

Post by pmlnr »

I've never heard of Threema and Zom before, so I checked them. Zom is... well, just another messenger. Threema on the other hand looks very interesting, but it's a paid app - I don't know if any app will be able to pull what WhatsApp had with it's $1 pricing.

Other, than this, Threema looks promising.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#529

Post by b6z »

MattJ100 wrote: post #53

If you don't care about centralized/US-based but care about privacy (I assume you wouldn't be leaving WhatsApp otherwise), go for Signal. But if you want to avoid a repeat of what's happening with WhatsApp, support decentralized alternatives. Go for solutions that are built on Matrix or XMPP, the primary contenders in this space. Both are open networks with plenty of open-source software, public servers, paid hosting…

I think one of the main problems protocols like XMPP and Matrix have to solve is the combination of good crypto + decentralization + offline-capability.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#530

Post by agd »

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.

> Critical social infrastructure

At least for the UK, this is not at all the case. It’s perfectly feasible to socialise and do business without going anywhere near WhatsApp.

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