211–220 of 283 posts
The interface can look better, and it would be great if it can automatically backup all messages and media to the cloud and encrypt it. There is also this annoying "verify pin" popup that shows up once in a while.
I have been using Signal for two years now and I love it. However I really, really hope they can work on a good backup and restore process as losing my message history because I have to reinstall the app on my desktop[1] or have to reset my phone is a horrible experience. Just build an encrypted blob and zip it up and pop it on my iCloud or Google Drive or leave it local and let me deal with it but I need something .…
Never mind that transitioning between iPhones (we almost bought her a new phone this year) has the same problem. That this is not supported invalidates Signal as a replacement for SMS or Whatsapp for many many non-technical users.
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Are these things so important that we should give up the easier maintainability (and potentially, security) that comes from centralization and the standardization of user clients? I absolutely think projects like Matrix are worthwhile, but it seems foolish to me to argue that there are no benefits that come from doing things the way Signal does. Besides, as sexy as decentralization is, in the wild it is not really pr…
In my opinion an ideal position is somewhere between the two extremes - promote the use of a single official client and server and let 99% of users use just that, but allow the development of alternatives for those that want them. There are more possible stances than just "we disallow third party clients" and "we strongly encourage third party clients".
This is blowing up quite big now and I have managed to shift a lot of my friends to Signal now, I wonder if WhatsApp will go back on its decision. As we stand now even Signal is not safe because of the business model. I wonder what's the model on messaging apps that will work. I don't want the OS creators to own the messaging platforms as well by virtue of subsidising it through OS/hardware.
>I wonder what's the model on messaging apps that will work. Federated. History has shown that any system that puts control in the hands of one entity eventually ends up bad.
Are any of the other third party apps worth looking at? I'm thinking specifically of Threema which I have but haven't really ever used since nobody else I know is using it.
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> the Signal team fundamentally does not value chat history the same way a lot of people do This is the core problem as why many projects don't get mainstream. They have 2 options: they can focus on what they think is a priority, or on what the public thinks is a priority. I'm not saying Signal is wrong on doing what they are doing, as they are being successful among some niches (i.e: tech). But to grab Whatsapp user…
This is exactly why Telegram is beating Signal. They're singularly focused on the user experience and what users want. Uninstall / reinstall / multiple-devices works flawlessly.
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> the Signal team fundamentally does not value chat history the same way a lot of people do This is the core problem as why many projects don't get mainstream. They have 2 options: they can focus on what they think is a priority, or on what the public thinks is a priority. I'm not saying Signal is wrong on doing what they are doing, as they are being successful among some niches (i.e: tech). But to grab Whatsapp user…
This is exactly why Telegram is beating Signal. They're singularly focused on the user experience and what users want. Uninstall / reinstall / multiple-devices works flawlessly.
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>...the Signal team fundamentally does not value chat history the same way a lot of people do. Keeping around old messages more or less negates the value of forward secrecy. The Signal Protocol is obsessively forward secret. So it would be reasonable for those that have put so much work into getting rid of old messages for good would not value them.
Honestly I personally just want the ability to save specific messages. My friend sends me a recipe? Save. Just shooting the shit? Don't save. I don't understand why people want to save their whole chat history but I do understand why you'd want to save specific messages, and that's a big missing feature.
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I think it's astute of you to point out that the Signal developers do not value chat history the same way many people do, but I am not sure I track with this: > It's not a technical issue - they just think you're wrong when you want to keep your conversations. as much. When you are treating security as a number one priority I think there are a lot of things that become technical issues which aren't typically. Transfe…
> For example, in the classic case when a user adds a new device and wants history to be available on both you can't let the devices controlled by one person simply sync with one another. > To do so would be making a security concession to the other members of the chat in that they no longer verify every destination of their message. You can't "verify every destination" with Signal anyway. Maybe the message is going…
> With Signal I can already add a new device and continue existing conversations without the other participants being notified that I've added a new device.
Just today I had a group chat notification that said:
"More than one member of this group is no longer marked as verified. Tap for options"
Tapping brought me to a menu that said:
"Safety Number Changes -- The following people many have reinstalled or changed devices. Verify your safety number with them to ensure privacy"
At which point I was given the option to re-verify (e.g. via a provided QR code), but also the option to manually mark "verified". That is to say something does notify participants of changes to recipient devices.
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This is exactly why Telegram is beating Signal. They're singularly focused on the user experience and what users want. Uninstall / reinstall / multiple-devices works flawlessly.
I fundamentally distrust any program which claims E2E encryption and is capable of recovering my chat history onto a new device. This means that Telegram is technically able to recover my chat history, making the "E2E" bit of the encryption smoke-and-mirrors.
So you can use regular texting for everything you don't care much about, like sending youtube videos and memes to your friends, and use the secret chat to things that re more sensitive. That's great for most people that currently use Whatsapp