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Signal Introduces Stories

signal.org

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Re: Signal Introduces Stories

#111

Post by tablespoon »

nimbius wrote: post #69
hadlock wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

About once a week I get a notification that random person X I haven't talked to in a decade is now on signal. About two months ago the super at my old apartment building got on signal and I got a notification. My late coworker's phone number finally got recycled and the new person using it is on signal too. They appear to be reaching critical mass. Still really mad about them dropping SMS support. I'll be deleting it…

same. unless Signal has public metrics to suggest its reached a real critical mass, the lack of basic SMS functionality kills the app for me.

> same. unless Signal has public metrics to suggest its reached a real critical mass, the lack of basic SMS functionality kills the app for me.

Did its SMS feature support encryption somehow? Because sounds like a bad idea to include unencrypted messaging in a secure app: it's a giant footgun.

Re: Signal Introduces Stories

#112

Post by [deleted] »

dont__panic wrote: post #103

Disregard this comment. This feature, while disappointing to me, is a fine addition to Signal for many people who would like to use the Story format without snooping or ads from Meta. That is a good thing and we should celebrate it. I previously commented something much more negative and snarky. I regret it.

[deleted]

Re: Signal Introduces Stories

#113

Post by dont__panic »

nicce wrote: post #97
broAhmed wrote: post #3

I love how Signal (and WhatsApp adopting Signal's protocol) made privacy easy for the general public and technically inclined alike. Privacy will never be the default until it's made easy. I'm guessing some folks won't like use feature because it's too "social media-y" (myself likely included) but as they say in the post: - You can turn the feature off and you won't see other people's stories - You can choose the aud…

> I love how Signal (and WhatsApp adopting Signal's protocol) made privacy easy for the general public and technically inclined alike. Privacy will never be the default until it's made easy. WhatsApp did not really adapt it in privacy mind, to be fair. All metadata is unencrypted. Meta harvests your contact information, intervals and time when you message specific persons. Often, this information is more interesting…

Perhaps that's the real reason they renamed to Meta. Not for the metaverse, but because of their incredible volume of metadata.

Re: Signal Introduces Stories

#114

Post by [deleted] »

nicce wrote: post #100
baby wrote: post #79

I really feel like the best Signal today is Whatsapp. It implements almost the same protocol and is 1) super lean and 2) everyone already has it.

It is not the same. WhatsApp (and Meta) collects all the metadata, which might be worse than the message contents itself. It is just their marketing, it is not very private after all.

[deleted]

Re: Signal Introduces Stories

#116

Post by [deleted] »

n8ta wrote: post #65

Removed SMS support and then added stories. Worried about signal's recent direction. Being able to interact with my remaining non-signal contacts was huge. Really going to miss it. In contrast they are now adding a feature I do not care about at all.

[deleted]

Re: Signal Introduces Stories

#117

Post by pvg »

dont__panic wrote: post #103

Disregard this comment. This feature, while disappointing to me, is a fine addition to Signal for many people who would like to use the Story format without snooping or ads from Meta. That is a good thing and we should celebrate it. I previously commented something much more negative and snarky. I regret it.

Don't be snarky. Have curious conversation; don't cross-examine. Please don't fulminate. Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community. Edit out swipes [...]

Please don't pick the most provocative thing in an article or post to complain about in the thread. Find something interesting to respond to instead.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Signal Introduces Stories

#118

Post by extr0pian »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #21
dewey wrote: post #12

I like it! Making it more "mainstream" is the way to go even if purists might say that it's feature bloat for their secure messenger. It's similar to how it's good if more people use Tor for all kinds of activities as it doesn't immediately label you as suspicious just because you use Tor or Signal.

Making people juggle a different app for SMS is the opposite of being mainstream friendly.

I know that Signal announced plans to have accounts based on usernames rather than phone numbers in the past. I wonder if the removal of SMS has something to do with usernames.

Re: Signal Introduces Stories

#119

Post by autoexec »

mcjiggerlog wrote: post #9

Personally I'd rather avoid the feature bloat. I also think it just waters-down the "secure" image they are clearly going for. I mean, broadcasting images to your contact list isn't exactly what I think of when I think "private messaging".

> broadcasting images to your contact list isn't exactly what I think of when I think "private messaging".

Neither was signal taking your contact list and uploading a copy along with your name and photo and storing that data forever in the cloud. Neither was refusing to update their privacy policy to reflect their new data collection practices. A company that promotes itself to whistleblowers and human rights activists and then lies to them about what data they collect and keep is highly unethical.

None of this inspires confidence in Signal as a private/secure messaging service. I've moved away from it. I wish them luck as a social media platform.

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