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Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#651

Post by lucideer »

dathinab wrote: post #207

- Matrix is for now (like Discord) more of "slack like" service alternative (but has potential to become more than that). - Telegram might be the easiest to use where you likely find the most people but I disagree with a lot of things done by/around telegram. - Threema (now open source) is as far as I know the most privacy focused one and by far my favorite. I like the way they are doing many thinks and they have man…

> Matrix is for now (like Discord) more of "slack like" service alternative (but has potential to become more than that).

More specifically, I would say Element (the most popular Matrix client) is more of a "slack like" alternative, but most other mobile Matrix clients are much more WhatsApp-like.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#652

Post by jorvi »

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.

There used to be on Android, it's called Disa, but a lot of services actively combat third party clients.

It was nice when I used it back in like 2014 because if WhatsApp went down I could just keep talking to the same person via Telegram (assuming they had both) and it'd all be in 1 joined conversation.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#654

Post by marbletiles »

It's a shame that iMessage isn't an option (for users, not in the poll!). It's nothing like a perfect option, but if anything is going to beat WhatsApp for mindshare it's something from Apple which already has an enormous non-tech userbase.

I know the reflex answer is "they won't do it because iPhone exclusivity sells iPhones" but suspect that's increasingly only true in the US.

People here are describing how phones there are increasingly WhatsApp-running platforms, and Apple would be wise to prevent that while it can. Might also offer them an upsell route for their other cross-platform services.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#656

Post by arendtio »

MattJ100 wrote: post #464
defanor wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ended up setting a web interface (converse.js) primarily for use with iOS. No push notifications with it, but also heard that iOS native clients tend to crash and lose messages, and apparently can't run in the background.

iOS doesn't let any apps run in the background. That's "fine" though, because the app can receive push notifications via Apple's push service, and that wakes up the app when you receive a message. That's supported by practically all public XMPP servers these days.

Well, what is not fine though, is the fact, that Apple neither allows other browsers on iOS nor implements the 'Push API' for Safari. This combination makes it impossible to build a chat apps using web technologies (which would lower the effort for building a client quite a lot).

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#658

Post by londons_explore »

mkmk2 wrote: post #521
londons_explore wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 woul…

Platform providers like Google and Apple could tear down app walled gardens by simply saying "If your app has a significant chat component, it must make available this API to allow other apps to integrate with it".

Suddenly multi-billion dollar chat apps with big network effects are mere service providers... And since Google has failed so many times at producing a popular chat app, I'm surprised they haven't gone down this route...

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#659

Post by MattJ100 »

arendtio wrote: post #656
MattJ100 wrote: post #464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iOS doesn't let any apps run in the background. That's "fine" though, because the app can receive push notifications via Apple's push service, and that wakes up the app when you receive a message. That's supported by practically all public XMPP servers these days.

Well, what is not fine though, is the fact, that Apple neither allows other browsers on iOS nor implements the 'Push API' for Safari. This combination makes it impossible to build a chat apps using web technologies (which would lower the effort for building a client quite a lot).

Yeah, I agree that there are many things not fine about mobile push notifications in general. Hence the "" quotes in my previous comment :)

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#660

Post by itsnot2020 »

graeme wrote: post #631
speeder wrote: post #555

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iMessage is just too risky. Reason is that it is also an interface for SMS, and SMS in Brazil is obscenely crazy expensive, some operators might charge 1 BRL per message or stuff like that (for context: 1 BRL is the price of a cup of coffee or of a bottle of water), using iMessage and having it to switch to SMS without you noticing can rack bills that are easily bigger than your wages.

There’s a toggle to disable send as sms in the settings. Of course not everyone knows that and it isn’t the default so I can see how this is a deterrent in practice.

You're right, I must have activated that toggle years ago and forgotten about it. Yes the SMS fallback could be painful if you're not paying attention.
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