31–40 of 152 posts
God fucking dammit. I literally just put my reputation on the line with family last week that we should all switch to Signal. All I want is a decent E2EE messaging app. Between this and their upcoming crypto payment system, I’m thinking I made a huge mistake switching from Telegram.
What speaks against riot+matrix?
The feature that I missed the most after switching to signal was Live location sharing. It is just so convenient to find your friends while going out or going to the street exactly at the time someone is there to pick you up.
Too many people blame Matrix but I love it. It's UI is not as polished but hey I can work with it because sooner or later all these centralized apps run after revenue and ruin the most basic stuff that these app should do: messaging.
The development of Signal, sorry to put it harshly, seems to suffer from a split brained syndrome. On one hand they’ll focus on adding stickers, stories and other trivial features to help appeal to a broader user base, but on the other hand they’ll refuse to implement basic and important features that people need in a chat app, like chat backups (there is no backup option for iOS, only a device to device transfer…so…
I moved my home directory to a new computer and Signal Desktop started like if something changed. Sure you would lose your messages on your phone, but you can still access them on your computer if needed.
On a rooted Android phone, you could use oandbackup to backup Signal. If you care about these things, maybe consider using a rooted Android phone?
I agree with you on the centralized platform aspect and the use of phone number (which is both a blessing (this makes it easy for new users to join) and a curse). I also agree with you on Element's UX, but it's getting better and most people can use it fine. I have a few groups on both apps.
I personally prefer Element, which seems more open than Signal and which I can actually use correctly on the PinePhone. And definitely didn't requires the hoops I had to go through because I don't have an Android phone or an iPhone. Axolotl [1] still needs some work.
The feature that I missed the most after switching to signal was Live location sharing. It is just so convenient to find your friends while going out or going to the street exactly at the time someone is there to pick you up.
Which messaging apps have actual Live Location sharing?
The development of Signal, sorry to put it harshly, seems to suffer from a split brained syndrome. On one hand they’ll focus on adding stickers, stories and other trivial features to help appeal to a broader user base, but on the other hand they’ll refuse to implement basic and important features that people need in a chat app, like chat backups (there is no backup option for iOS, only a device to device transfer…so…
> I’ve been trying Element (from Matrix), but its UX is quite poor. I just wish chat apps would copy at least some of the UX of Telegram.
I think Signal may be trying to copy some of the UX features that drive people to WhatsApp and Telegram, while maintaining the security. Adding stickers and stories with e2ee is probably quite the challenge and maybe less challenging than a creating secure solution, especially connected to the cloud.
I personally am grateful they're adding more features and agree, would love for Signal to add UX elements at the rate of Telegram. BTW, I don't think Telegram has stories, which is a feature I really love on WhatsApp, so I think if Signal has that, it may be easier for me to get people to switch to Signal.
Lately, people around me have been installing Signal, or I've met people would already have Signal, and it's been enjoyable to, at last, participate in fun group chats. They didn't miss me before but I'm happy to be there now.
Signal works well. I'd like to be able to edit messages and react with multiple emojis like with Element/Matrix, but most importantly, Signal needs to look cool and to be something people want to install and use.
Element/Matrix too, by the way, but they need to focus on usability first at the moment.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apparently they have too much money? I thought I donated to help them be a strong encrypted messaging app and survive for the long term. Not to tack on a bunch of social media features.
What I think keeps me and many of my friends in East Africa hooked on WhatsApp is the ability to post statuses (stories). It gives me a strong reason to come back to the app as it helps me with conversation starters. I frankly might love if signal has it.
What other apps are common among you and your peers?
The feature that I missed the most after switching to signal was Live location sharing. It is just so convenient to find your friends while going out or going to the street exactly at the time someone is there to pick you up.
Wow I did not realize that Signal was missing this. I think they are focusing on getting more people on board than building a great app. Too many people blame Matrix but I love it. It's UI is not as polished but hey I can work with it because sooner or later all these centralized apps run after revenue and ruin the most basic stuff that these app should do: messaging.
God fucking dammit. I literally just put my reputation on the line with family last week that we should all switch to Signal. All I want is a decent E2EE messaging app. Between this and their upcoming crypto payment system, I’m thinking I made a huge mistake switching from Telegram.
Not trying to add snark, just genuinely curious why the addition of stories would detract from its e2ee nature.
The feature that I missed the most after switching to signal was Live location sharing. It is just so convenient to find your friends while going out or going to the street exactly at the time someone is there to pick you up.