Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mobile apps linked here: https://www.prettyeasyprivacy.com/get-pep-mobile/
Click on the App Store button. It just says "coming soon"
Ah, I hadn't noticed (I've installed the Android app).
Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?
81–90 of 90 posts
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?
#82I use WhatsApp. I know it says end to end encryption, but I do not know how good that aspect of it really is. How is FB making any money from it if everything is encrypted?
Onboarding non-US users to Facebook (Brazil & India particularly) & using address book contacts & metainfo from encrypted communications to create social graphs.
I've never really understood the argument of well its Facebook so obviously they are lying. They are getting a lot of value out WhatApp, and the blowback on Facebook would be pretty significant if they were lying and found out.
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?
#83I am under the impression iMessage is pretty secure and I use it extensively as most of my friends and colleagues have iPhones. Refer to http://www.apple.com/business/docs/iOS_Security_Guide.pdf which specifies that RSA 1280-bit keypairs are used, and the private key is held on the device. So in terms of transit - the protocol should be secure. The only remaining option would be to question whether iOS is secure/inse…
The issue with iMessage is that it doesn't warn you when a contact's key changes. That opens the door for MitM attacks. Signal and WhatsApp (with a setting) do much better on that front.
Unless they've updated this, they can but don't by default.
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?
#84Security people recommend Signal a lot (e.g. https://medium.com/@thegrugq/signal-intelligence-free-for-al... , Snowden uses it and repeatedly recommended it: https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/661313394906161152 , ...). Personally, I use it all the time and it's nice. Most of the initial problems have been sorted out, so I encourage anyone who's had trouble with it before to try it out again. It has text (one-on-one…
Encrypted video calls will crush mobile CPUs in my opinion, but indeed it would be nice to have one.
Video calls in general are CPU/battery heavy operations, I've done pretty long ones with Wire (my employer) and yes, the phone gets warm but no issues with performance (iPhone 6).
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?
#85As an alternative to Signal, I would also recommend Threema. Mobile only, paid, end-to-end encrypted with in-person verification. Team and infrastructure is based in Switzerland https://threema.ch/en/
The major reason why we (IT group in Switzerland) are not using it as much, is because they are still not providing a Desktop Client.
Have you looked into Wire as an alternative? Also HQd in Switzerland, E2EE with multi-device and desktop support + open source.
Happy to walk you through it (I'm siim@wire.com).
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?
#86I like https://wire.com and https://threema.ch/en
Wire was in the middle of a shitstorm a while back iirc because it falsly advertised that it encrypted everything end-to-end, when in actual fact only text was so.
That was indeed the case in December, 2014 (before I joined the team). Legal docs were quickly fixed. Tech was fixed in March 2016 when everything (text, assets, calls) were moved to E2EE and open sourced.
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?
#87I've found https://www.securemessagingapps.com to be an interesting source of comparison. The author seems to actively update it based on crowd-submissions.
There's also http://öä.eu/bac.html (based on http://öä.eu/bac.pdf thesis) but I've emailed with the author and he said that he's not keeping it up to date.
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?
#88zyptonite.com has some great features. Group messaging, group voice calls and group video calls are hard to come by in the "paranoid encrypt everything" world that we seem to find ourselves. That being said, one of their most recent updates hosed my account so badly that I just switched to Signal.
I've also used Wire and I really liked it, but I had the same problem. The update to the new technology broke it in such a way that I can't actually message anyone anymore. If Wire can get their ducks in a row, I might switch back.
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, Situation: Us "techies" know or easily can learn how to set up encryption and protect ourselves, the general public will not. Everyone needs encryption but most will only use it if: -their friends are using it -it is so easy a cave man can do it -it is beautiful Complication: Current products are hard to use and are built for hackers. Encryption products need to build in vitality and understand the use cases of…
Have you looked at what Pretty Easy Privacy is doing? https://www.prettyeasyprivacy.com/ They have iOS and Android clients, along with a subscription available for Outlook (Windows), and planned desktop versions for Apple Mail, Thunderbird and Web Browsers (Safari, Mozilla, Chrome and IE).
Here you have an overview: https://pep.foundation/pep-software/index.html
Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?
#90At the moment, Signal and Wire seem to be the best options. They have open-source clients, end-to-end encryption, are easy enough to use that even less-computer savy people can be realistically convinced to use them and they seem to offer decent protection for metadata (not technical, but policy-wise). There are, however, some upcoming developments which will change the situation in the next couple of months: 1) The…
This is a great answer. I was about to recommend the same, Signal for now, Matrix eventually. I did not know about Briar, that seems useful, even for cases where you are just of the grid with your friends.
Is there any particular reason why you wouldn't recommend Matrix/Riot today, for someone who is technically proficient?