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Wave – A private and unique messenger for iOS

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Re: Wave – A private and unique messenger for iOS

#51
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In other words you have to harvest the parties' contact lists in order to do this matching?

We require access to your contacts. We do not harvest.

Could you explain the difference, in your own words?

The most obvious way I see to support this feature is to build up a big table of contact connections, so that when I join and put in my phone number it can send up my list of contacts and find all the bidirectional connections to what's already in the database.

This means you're building up a big graph of how all your users are connected to each other, and to people who don't use Wave (yet). Is that not 'harvesting' the contacts? Do you do it a different way?

Re: Wave – A private and unique messenger for iOS

#52
post #40
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't. Sending and receiving a message on Wave (^‿^)ノ is different from any other messaging platform.

It would be great if you expanded on _why_ it's different.

The most notable difference is messages being stored inside capsules.

This means that you have to open a message to read it. You can only view it once. When displayed, messages do not include the senders name.

Re: Wave – A private and unique messenger for iOS

#53
Ugh, I hate everything about this. They claim to be privacy focused but collect metadata for ads.

The app appears to have 15 fake 5 star reviews that don't at all accurately review the app as an ephemeral messaging platform. One compares it to Whatsapp.

there is no website explaining how this app works.

they're forcing users to provide a phone number for no discernable reason.

Re: Wave – A private and unique messenger for iOS

#54
post #53

Ugh, I hate everything about this. They claim to be privacy focused but collect metadata for ads. The app appears to have 15 fake 5 star reviews that don't at all accurately review the app as an ephemeral messaging platform. One compares it to Whatsapp. there is no website explaining how this app works. they're forcing users to provide a phone number for no discernable reason.

Hey buddy!

Regarding your privacy concerns, the way in which it is designed makes messaging private. All communication is also end-to-end encrypted.

No metadata collected other than what development platform requires for basic analytics.

There is absolutely advertising.

The reviews are fake...?

Most messaging apps require a phone number.

The app works the same way as Whatsapp does. Both users needs each other saved in their address book and both users need the app installed.

It was designed to be very user-friendly and simple.

Hope this in someway alleviates your frustrations.

(^‿^)ノ

Re: Wave – A private and unique messenger for iOS

#55
post #43
post #3

Wow Marc, thanks! Hey HN, Wave (^‿^)ノ is privacy-focused instant messenger designed to keep the nature of conversation fun and fleeting. No other messaging platform offers complete messaging peace of mind by being totally anonymous. The app offers two message types: WaveFlash: 10 words or less - message displayed word-by-word rapidly. WaveLength: 1000 characters or less - tap anywhere to close the message when read.…

One thing I like about Viber a lot is their secret chats where you can set the time limit and messages self-destruct when that time passes. I wish other clients had that too.

Hi!

This approaches private chats in a unique way. Messages can be viewed once only. Unsend any unread message without notifying the receiver.

Viber won't protect you from screenshots.

Re: Wave – A private and unique messenger for iOS

#56
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We require access to your contacts. We do not harvest.

Could you explain the difference, in your own words? The most obvious way I see to support this feature is to build up a big table of contact connections, so that when I join and put in my phone number it can send up my list of contacts and find all the bidirectional connections to what's already in the database. This means you're building up a big graph of how all your users are connected to each other, and to peopl…

The app requires an active number in order to use the service. This number is submitted to the database during the verification process. To my knowledge, mthere is no way around this.

To send and receive messages, the app needs access to your contacts. When you tap 'send' for the first time, the app will ask you for permission to access your address book.

Re: Wave – A private and unique messenger for iOS

#57
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, more importantly, how does key exchange work? You can’t really claim to be totally anonymous without explaining these details.

How does key exchange work, and does the server have copies of the keys?

You can find more info on key exchange here - https://github.com/RNCryptor/RNCryptor.

The server does not have copies.

Re: Wave – A private and unique messenger for iOS

#58
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi! The original idea was to have short messages that disappear after being read so that people only send you relevant details. I want to add more features and more way to communicate in the future. The fact that it doesn't tell you when someone is typing and you don't get notified when someone unsends a message reduced a lot of anxiety.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I was more asking who is your target user? What problem are they trying to solve with this? How does this app better suit them than your competitors?

Hey Dan,

I'll try my best to answer your questions.

The target user is anyone who wants to communicate without worrying about message permanence or risk being tied to the message they sent.

The sender's details are not included when a message is viewed making the app screenshot friendly. Screen recording won't get you very far either.

Coincidentally, the way in which the app was designed solves many privacy concerns highlighted in Zuckerberg's privacy manifesto - https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/a-privacy-foc...

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