Good case of veneer design vs functional design.
Wire – Modern Communications Network
371–380 of 411 posts
Re: Wire – Modern Communications Network
#372Weird that no one here is talking about voice quality, which was what stood out to me as most interesting about the product. I've wondered for a while why, if we can handle something as high-bandwidth as video chat, we can't do higher-fidelity audio chat over data.
But I just tried it and it sounded more or less the same as a normal cell voice call. Also the UI is pretty but slow-feeling on Android. I have a feeling it's smoother on iOS. Disappointing.
Re: Wire – Modern Communications Network
#373Weird that no one here is talking about voice quality, which was what stood out to me as most interesting about the product. I've wondered for a while why, if we can handle something as high-bandwidth as video chat, we can't do higher-fidelity audio chat over data. But I just tried it and it sounded more or less the same as a normal cell voice call. Also the UI is pretty but slow-feeling on Android. I have a feeling…
Could the quality of the phone's microphone be the reason for the low-fi voice audio?
Re: Wire – Modern Communications Network
#374Oh its everywhere! Except... Windows, Linux, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Web... iOS, OS X and Android is far from everywhere.
I don't get why they decided an OS X app was more important to release than a browser app... A browser app reaches a way bigger market share than an OS X one.
The Mac app is also pretty awkward on non-Yosemite computers; a very broken UI.
Re: Wire – Modern Communications Network
#375Weird that no one here is talking about voice quality, which was what stood out to me as most interesting about the product. I've wondered for a while why, if we can handle something as high-bandwidth as video chat, we can't do higher-fidelity audio chat over data. But I just tried it and it sounded more or less the same as a normal cell voice call. Also the UI is pretty but slow-feeling on Android. I have a feeling…
That may be because when you install it, you realize you don't have any one you know using the app. Your first action on any new social product, is to spam every action possible against one close friend to see what they all do.
I'd like to try voice calling since some of the Android reviews say the same thing about the quality, but I've yet the chance to do so..
Re: Wire – Modern Communications Network
#376Earlier quoted context omitted.
>You forgot Hangouts, which works on Android, iOS, and the desktop. It supports text, voice, and video, just like Wire. Its only negative from my personal viewpoint is no Windows Phone support, but that OS is the punchline of many jokes these days. Have you ever tried to start a Hangout with a non-technical user? It's a nightmare. I do remote tutoring. Skype is easy. Everyone has it, you add the username, and call. H…
> Have you ever tried to start a Hangout with a non-technical user? Yes, my technophobe sister in law. She got a new Android phone and was texting me via plain old SMS, which are metered on her account. I texted her back "Look for an icon that is a green circle with a double quote mark in it. Open it, follow the prompts, and send me a message". Within a minute I had a Hangout message from her, and she's been using it…
I can't edit the original post. I meant to write, but didn't "ever tried to start a Hangout on a computer with a non-technical user"
I agree the phone is easier.
Re: Wire – Modern Communications Network
#377Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did they ever fix the massive security hole(s?) in whatsapp?
What massive security holes?
Wasn't it also true that the password for every account was a simple function of the phone number? Then they changed it, only to base in the IMEI instead.
I didn't look at it again so I don't know if they fixed it for real in the end.
Re: Wire – Modern Communications Network
#378Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unfortunately, even if they DID specifically list out all the security measures that they used, someone would still complain because it isn't completely open source. The previous company I worked for not only had legitimate encryption for anything private we received from the user (e.g.: email passwords) so that nobody at the company could ever read them, but also had some (if I remember correctly) good documentation…
There is another option - matrix.org is a new open standard for real-time communication (with encryption) in an open, federated ecosystem. That means you can run your own server and encrypt your own data, and the encrypted data can still be sent to other servers in the federation. To your point about open source, if something like this can take off it needs to be fully open and transparent, without fees or central da…
From the homepage:
> Send and receive extensible messages with optional end-to-end encryption
Why would encryption ever be "optional"?
Re: Wire – Modern Communications Network
#379Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is another option - matrix.org is a new open standard for real-time communication (with encryption) in an open, federated ecosystem. That means you can run your own server and encrypt your own data, and the encrypted data can still be sent to other servers in the federation. To your point about open source, if something like this can take off it needs to be fully open and transparent, without fees or central da…
From the homepage: > Send and receive extensible messages with optional end-to-end encryption Why would encryption ever be "optional"?
Back in the day it was often optional due to the additional processing that it required.
Re: Wire – Modern Communications Network
#380Earlier quoted context omitted.
XMPP and OTR are not workable for mobile devices. The protocol structure assumes a consistent background connection that doesn't get killed, something that is relatively cheap to do on the laptops and desktops it was designed for, but is expensive battery wise for mobile devices. Go download an OTR client for iOS, like cryptocat and notice how it pings you after 10 minutes that you have to re-open the app to keep on…
You can develop an xmpp client for IOS that does not ping you every 10 minutes (or ever). You have to register the socket used for XMPP for VOIP purposes and IOS will happily comply with that. Been there, done that
This still isn't power-efficient. On phones you should be using push notifications instead of holding a socket open.