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Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

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Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#311

Post by technothrasher »

mynameisvlad wrote: post #168
tadfisher wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The downside is that they will opportunistically send your messages via Signal. If the recipient chooses to not have SIgnal installed any longer, then your messages go into a black hole. This became much more of a problem for me after they rolled out their shitcoin; suddenly my techie friends were just not responding to messages, and Signal as my main SMS app was not falling back to SMS for these folks.

Apple has the same problem, and an article and entire process for disabling it out of band, plus a heartbeat so it’s done automatically after a while if you don’t reset your phone. It’s a major problem. I’ve only done the switch from iOS to Android once and I remember it was a pain for a few days until everything realized I didn’t have iMessage anymore.

Even without an iPhone I sometimes miss texts from people using iMessage because my only occasionally used MacBook seems to randomly like to turn messages back on, and so anything from an Apple user ends up there instead of on my phone. It stays that way until I figure out I’m missing texts and go find them on the MacBook and have to manually turn off messages to it again.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#312

Post by johnchristopher »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #253

I'm surprised at how much backlash there is to this. I've had Signal since shortly after it renamed itself from TextSecure to Signal, and I never bothered using it as the default SMS/Messaging app, because back then it was a bad SMS app. It felt like it paled in comparison to what the default Android Messages app could do. I didn't want to get the false impression, either, that my chats were encrypted when they reall…

Same.

What's weird is that in the numerous Matrix vs Signal comments that populate Signal and Matrix submissions you rarely find SMS support as an Signal advantage over Element/Matrix.

Most people I know didn't like Signal taking over the SMS when they accidentally opted in.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#313

Post by maratc »

dylan604 wrote: post #208
roer wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are surely ways around this that don't limit the functionality of the application

As if Signal couldn't change the color of the text bubbles to some shade of, let's just say, green, to indicate when a user is chatting via SMS instead of a Signal secured message.

And then everybody and their dog would accuse them of green-shaming or whatever.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#314

Post by 7steps2much »

Till now I kep't signal around despite the fact that I wasn't really getting that many messages on the app.

Now I am faced with a decision: * Do I keep signal around, for that one to two messages a month I receive? * Or do I get rid of it, forcing my contacts back on Whatsapp/regular SMS?

To be perfectly honest, I am thinking about just gettting rid of it. No need to keep yet another communication channel around when I can't get rid of the other ones anyways. :(

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#315

Post by dopa42365 »

3836293648 wrote: post #139
mgbmtl wrote: post #8

I for one welcome the change, because my phone does not have an SMS plan (data only) and the "send by SMS" is a bit confusing. A messaging app should have one clear behavior per interface. This was "maybe secure, maybe not". I have an SMS app for that (well, VoIP-sms, because I'm weird).

How does your phone even work if you cannot at least receive SMS?

Receiving SMS is free in [nearly everywhere].

Not that anyone really uses SMS anymore in [nearly everywhere].

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#316

Post by hgomersall »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #183
pmlnr wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Signal seem to have adopted the "Decisions, not Options"[^1] route way too well, so don't act surprised. This is why we need at least open source clients that can be forked when these decisions are made. [^1]: https://wordpress.org/about/philosophy/

I have never understood why decisions and options have to be mutually exclusive. Yes, you want to have a rock-solid, thoughtfully-design default install for new and casual users. You can still have an advanced control panel with everything a power user could want.

Requisite XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1172/

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#318

Post by hgomersall »

chasil wrote: post #128
eatwater123 wrote: post #10

This is an awful decision. I've converted some friends and family to Signal over the past years (it took a while) and it is now their default messaging app on their phones. This is going to confuse them and is going to make it difficult for me to keep convincing them that Signal is the route to use. ("Why do I need 3 apps (Android Messages, Signal, Whatsapp) to talk to people?")

I use Silence. It hasn't been updated in a while, but I like the way it looks. I don't know anybody else who uses Silence so I could exchange encrypted messages with them. Oh well. Maybe somebody here could resurrect this? https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.smssecure.smssecure/ https://git.silence.dev/Silence/Silence-Android/

Oh, I initially thought you were make a post-modern geeky witicism or something, but no, it really is a thing.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#319

Post by Snitch-Thursday »

KerryJones wrote: post #24

... and there's the reason I will likely stop using Signal? Signal was always one of those "win-win" apps, get more security when it's available and I don't have to worry about adding to the giant bucket of messaging apps. They were a paragon of putting the user first and I was a strong supporter... but now... Why not Telegram? Or anything else? I don't need the security, it was nice-to-have. Having to switch between…

I agree. I picked signal over deltachat to replace group MMS threads because it was less startup friction than getting everyone to login to their email accounts on a mobile account since they got SMSes for free.

Now? Delta chat is looking plenty fine for doing private group chats.

My threat model is not nation states watching my metadata, I have horrible opsec for that. My threat model is discord and whatsapp etc. tossing me and my chat groups off a cliff at their sole discretion.

Signal gave me control over chat groups, and integrated with SMS as a bonus. Now? If I'm gonna have to deal with a separate SMS app anyways, I might as well use delta chat where I know my messages are automatically backed up in my email account.

Re: Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

#320

Post by genpfault »

CommitSyn wrote: post #156
daedalus_j wrote: post #149

I've been using Signal for a long time. I have repeatedly been unable to convince iOS users to use Signal because "I don't want another app". Android users have been much more willing to give it a shot. As an android user myself, I much prefer having SMS built in because I use the search feature often to look back through all my SMS/Signal chats. I also regularly forward an SMS message to a Signal user, or vice versa…

Yes, this is an idiotic decision that makes me question the decisions being made as a whole by Signal. Does anyone have recommendations for a good default SMS app on Android?

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.simplemobiletools.smsmes... ?
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