So here’s the thing, every time I try to move away from Facebook messenger I run into the same problem, nobody else in my friends or family actually want to use a secure, private messenger app like signal or telegram, my wife, my parents, my in-laws, my friends they’re ALL on Facebook and they will never take signal seriously enough to actually use it, it really bums me out that there are these far superior options but without anyone else using them they’re pointless…
Anyway what apps do you use to stay in touch with people?
Mandatory “don’t put Signal and Telegram in the same sentence” notice. Not to be a snob, but Telegram is not “secure and private”, all chats are not end-to-end encrypted by default, everything is stored on Telegram’s servers with “forever-ever” retention. The end-to-end encryption is opt in, uses a dodgy encryption algorithm and has some limitations in terms of who you can contact and from what device etc.
Telegram is owned by Pavel Durov who also created the largest Russian social media platform VK, which later was overtaken by Russian state as a tool for crowd control and propaganda. Even if we assume that Pavel no longer has any ties with Russia and its “government”, his biography should still raise at least some questions around whether one should trust Telegram.
And finally, Telegram seems to be going the “everything app” route lately, which makes it a one stop shop of personal communication, public channels, news, bots, stories etc. (you name it). While it is not a bad thing in objective terms, these features are not built with privacy in mind, as that would pose quite a technical challenge. This means that Telegram’s privacy and security will only be sacrificed more and more to get more of the social features out of the door.
/rant over/
I agree with every point. The last paragraph doesn’t have to be a problem though: telegram has very open and really nice APIs and enjoys a lot of FOSS 3rd party apps (only matched by matrix). Of course, we can only enjoy that as long the API usage is still free to use…
The last paragraph doesn’t have to be a problem though
It is not yet, but the trajectory implies it may become a problem down the road. We’re, sadly, living this decade, where you can no longer ignore where a certain service is heading and how it monetises itself.
I like to give Pavel the benefit of the doubt and assume he was not a willing participant when Russia took over VK. That said, it still happened, so what is to stop them from taking over Telegram too whether he is complicit or not?
My preference is Signal Private Messenger app, but like you, I have problems getting some friends and family to use it. So for the ones that won’t, I just use Chomp SMS for my texting app.
My issue with signal is that their desktop app sucks. No message sync, it needs the phone as a relay and it’s made with Electron.
Signal >>>>>>>> WhatsApp > texting > Telegram >>>>>>> Messenger.
I’d put iMessage above WhatsApp, as long as it’s iMessage to iMessage.
Signal is wonderful.
I’m on Android so no iMessage. Regular testing is ok enough but I like managing my messages from my desktop, which SMS doesn’t do well even with bridge apps.
WhatsApp and sms > telegram? how much did zuck pay you for this comment?
I just strongly dislike the Telegram UI. WhatsApp’s interface I find very slightly better on mobile and much better on desktop.
I’ve managed to get my family from Messenger to WhatsApp. I won’t be able to do more but it’s (just marginally) less terrible.
It might not work for everyone, but my general advice is to go cold turkey. Inform your relatives that from now on they can contact you on Signal and then stop using FB. If they value keeping in touch with you, they will follow.
I could never do that lol. I barely care enough to talk to people and even I’d feel a little alone/I don’t like inconveniencing people. I do use Telegram for some people, but Signal is just used by nobody I know.
Whatsapp for the people I can’t get to move to Signal, which sadly is everyone in my family. I hate having the zuck all up in my messaging though.
Matrix
This would’ve been what I used if I could get anyone else to use it too.
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Just another reason to not have friends. No need to worry about messages and people getting funny because you 😱 reply to them straight away! 😎
Is it wrong to only miss not having friends when I need a hand lifting up something? 😳 I really need to buy a remote controlled crane! 🤔
I use telegram and signal for different purposes and people.
I’m surprised no-one mentioned XMPP/Snikket nor matrix. Both platforms are FOSS, selfhostable and thus gives you total control over your means of communication. Check them out if you’re curious (I prefer matrix, but snikket is more lightweight and easier to selfhost).
We just discussed this in the past week or two, removing under rule #4.
Signal is actually decently popular in my circle of friends. Whatsapp for the few that still don’t get it and Threema with a small circle of others.
Pretty much everyone in my country uses WhatsApp, so that’s what I use. I prefer to use Signal, but nobody I know uses it nor wants to migrate, so it just ended up as a glorified SMS app until Signal removed SMS support.
I deleted Facebook almost a decade ago. And I don’t miss it at all. I got everyone I talk to regularly to switch to signal. It’s helpful to have something that works across all devices and can send high quality pics and vids to groups of people on different types of devices.
Working on setting up matrix and hoping to make it easy enough for my close family and friends to switch over since I know I won’t be taking away any features. Self hosting has been a fun thing to figure out. And I like not having any ties to any corp. for my messaging.
Well you could move to Matrix and integrate your messenger account that way it’s a lot more seamless for everyone. You can get one person to do the same and you two start messaging securely via Matrix while you both keep in touch with the rest via the messenger integration. Then eventually everyone that cares even a little bit about Privacy will move over and no matter where they move you can keep in touch through Matrix and its many integrations.
How do you integrate messenger into matrix? I’m sorry if this has an obvious answer, but I’m totally zero when it comes to that, I haven’t even seen it’s UI.
I’m only familiar with self-hosting Matrix and if you do you install a plugin which acts as an API gateway of sorts which allows Matrix and Messenger to understand each other.
I have issues just getting people off SMS, never mind using a dedicated messaging app. I used to get folks to switch to Signal, because it also used SMS… what a headache, when that functionality got removed. I ended up moving to iOS, to take advantage of iMessage. It’s not as good as Signal, but it’s still a huge improvement.
