Earlier quoted context omitted.
Signal can't be bought. They're a non-profit org
When they run out of money to pay for servers they can sell assets as they please to whomever they please.
Which app is immune to this?
Poll: Switching from WhatsApp
51–60 of 972 posts
Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp
#52I like wire (https://wire.com/en/) but no one I know uses it :-/
Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp
#53If you don't care about centralized/US-based but care about privacy (I assume you wouldn't be leaving WhatsApp otherwise), go for Signal.
But if you want to avoid a repeat of what's happening with WhatsApp, support decentralized alternatives. Go for solutions that are built on Matrix or XMPP, the primary contenders in this space. Both are open networks with plenty of open-source software, public servers, paid hosting (i.e. you are not the product) and self-hosted options.
Personally I'm in the XMPP camp, and working on https://snikket.org/ specifically as an alternative to WhatsApp and the other centralized services.
Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp
#54Email? Text messages? Phone calls? Those are the only alternatives with enough penetration to rival WhatsApp (that I know of). I know that they are not secure, but neither is WhatsApp.
Email and phone calls are not a replacement for an instant messenger. That would be like getting rid of WhatsApp not replacing it.
Once RCS gets established though, text messaging may be a reasonable alternative. (As long as telcos don't try to use stupid pricing)
Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some people are annoyed that the end-to-end encryption isnt on by default. You have to enable it yourself if you want to use it. I agree its a downgrade in security. But I dont agree with it being a downgrade in privacy.
By default anyone at telegram can read your messages. By default, nobody at Facebook can read your WhatsApp messages. Telegram is a privacy downgrade here.
Can/Will is a difference. Especially when Facebook will definitely be using all the information it can get to sell profiles of me to others.
Another point is to compartmentalize information shared.
Id rather share my whole profile in parts to 100 different companies who all arent allowed to share it with each other, than all of it to one company.
Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp
#56Telegram is a great IM experience. The client is good, feature set is good, the stickers are amusing (if you're into that kind of thing), the feature set is complete and everything is polished. Telegram is, I think, going to be one of the easier sells if you're trying to convince non-technical users to switch from WhatsApp or FB Messenger.
The privacy, security, and governance story is not great though. If you care about such things, I think Signal wins hands down. And the UX is fine, just not quite as good as Telegram in my view.
(A third option not in your poll that might be worth evaluating is Wickr. I haven't used it personally, but I've seen it come up in these sorts of discussions.)
Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp
#57There should be an option “Not Switching”. My vote.
Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp
#58Been using Telegram for a long time. I don't trust it any more than I do with WhatsApp (therefore, Facebook), however it is well done and thought out, has a real desktop client with a real desktop UI toolkit and enough of my contacts are on it already, therefore it's the best compromise to me. I greatly dislike Signal's UI when I tried it out and I've read about some weird decisions lately (that "using a PIN? uploadi…
Signal requires phone number in order not to store your contact list on their servers. Instead of id's/email addresses/nicknames they are using your phone contact list. IMHO that's better for privacy.
Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp
#59Why is Viber even listed.
Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp
#60Is Matrix a good alternative to Signal? I'm currently using Signal, but I'm not entirely satisfied. My major issues are that I don't like their stance on a couple of issues: third party clients are not allowed, mobile first and desktop is only synced, phone number required, and distribution only over the app stores. Also we frequently get "encryption errors" and everybody ignores them, this is worse than with SSH key…
There is more metadata with Matrix but the privacy and security of message content is good. I find the UX a bit clunky because it's kind of trying to combine bits of a instant messenger with something like slack.