Reminder that Signal server source code is not fully released and the app is heavily dependent on google services to operate. Signal also takes measures against third party or unofficial apps. Whatever you say about privacy Signal is not an ally of user freedom.
Not to mention that they keep investing in things that people don't necessarily care about (like the crypto currency embedded in the app).
It is kind of beyond me why people would submit to monthly donations to a company which only care about its own interests.
Reminder that Signal server source code is not fully released and the app is heavily dependent on google services to operate. Signal also takes measures against third party or unofficial apps. Whatever you say about privacy Signal is not an ally of user freedom.
I'd do this in a heartbeat if they would get rid of MobileCoin first.
That’s partly why I donate. If they get direct funds they’re hopefully less likely to turn to these scammy cryptocoins to keep the lights on
I just don't get all the hate for cryptocurrencies around here. I benefit from using both Brave and Signal without being subjected to (scammy) adverts, and I just ignore the cryptocurrencies (you can too!!).. For people who are willing to take the risks with MobileCoin and the like, why not give them that choice?
These are not requirements for most messaging app users. I just want secure messaging. I don’t care if it’s open or interoperable. WhatsApp if it was run by a non profit.
Most messaging app users don't really care about encryption either. Most (or at least a large minority) probably wouldn't mind if their messages were used to 'deliver ads more suitable for you'. It doesn't mean these aren't important issues. Until Signal drops the phone number requirement (nothing beats that for efficient user tracking), allows desktop use without requiring a smartphone anywhere in the process, open…
The phone number requirement is the only thing making Signal remotely close to usable for the wider public. Similarly, non-phone messaging is niche in the extreme. Unusable software is not an ally of user freedom.
The actual problem with Signal is that they took US State Department funding. That doesn't mean it's an op necessarily, but suspicious nonetheless.
I don’t mind a subscription model provided it’s a very useful application with few competitors in terms of features. $5 each month is nothing in the grander scheme of things.
I'd argue that $5/month is quite high. Not because Signal isn't useful, but because the actual incurred cost per user is much, much lower. Of course, not everyone is going to pay. But if Signal were to ask users to pay, say $10 per year , i'm sure there'd be a lot more payers.
I agree. I love using signal and have converted most of my friends to it, but $60/year is too high for me for a chat app. I’d pay a dollar a month, maybe two.
I'm in a third world country and even I would contribute $10 a year. I already contribute to Wikipedia on occasion. Making it monthly feels like too much of an obligation.
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Please don't listen to this person. I at least am very happy that Wikipedia does not have ads.
Isn't signal deep in debt at the moment? At least 100 millions?
I think you might be talking about Brian Acton's loans to them? If so, yeah, they have to pay those off at some point, which begs the question why they took a loan in the first place. They were getting grants and things like that, so taking millions that they have to pay back, especially from a guy who sold WhatsApp to Facebook is... an interesting course of action.
I have no insights in how they use that money, but I sure hope they have not spent it already on 300 SF developer years, but rather treat it as an endowment. In the long run - spending 1-5 million every year, investing the rest - it shouldn't be too difficult to preserve the nominal value over such a long time frame.
I'm happy to give my 5$/month, as I'm using Signal daily. When moving away from WhatsApp it seemed like the best option for me and my circle of friends. I can only hope that some of the money would be used to hire a developer to fix some of the issues I'm experiencing, some of which are quite annoying: - Signal killing the whole iPad and iPhone battery in a matter of hours while running in the background, on some day…
Making the colors of buttons consistent seems like something that could be done as a pull request. I think all of their code is open source?