That's a risk, and a reason I'd like to see something federated succeed in this space. Unfortunately neither Matrix nor XMPP has managed to achieve quite the level of UX necessary for mainstream adoption, nor have the average person's tech skills and comfort level improved.

Signal's status as a well-funded nonprofit gives me hope that the current situation is reasonably stable.

Several XMPP clients look perfectly fine

I got tired of asking my family to download yet another app. Went iPhone at this point.

I will use the opportunity to remind that Signal is operated by a non-profit in the jurisdiction called "the US". This could have implications.

A somewhat more anarchist option might be TOX. There is no single client, TOX is a protocol, you can choose from half a dozen clients. I personally use qTox.

Upside: no phone number required. No questions asked.

Downside: no servers to store and forward messages. You can talk if both parties are online.

My wishlist is an app which is not linked to a phone number, is multi platform and has a web app. It should be none US and open source. That isn’t too many requirements and yet nothing seems to full fit the bill? Anyway good luck trying to get school parent’s groups to use something other than WhatsApp.

Don't ask me for a phone number and I'll use it.

When did WhatsApp start allowing signups without a phone number?

Does it really matter who made it if you can see the source code? You don't have to trust them.

That’s kind of a core tenet of libre/open software, innit? Independently verifiable software that you can change at your pleasure.

Anyone know why the Signal app isn't available on F-Droid? Isn't it supposed to be open source?

Can you though? Can I build the apk myself and use their services?

No clue. Never even tried to use it since it's a Meta product. I was referring to Signal's phone # requirement being a non-starter.

Don't ask me for a phone number and I'll use it.

So what do you use now?

The irony of you posting this on lemmy, which won't allow posting from a VPN or masked email addresses is not lost on me.

The amount of hoops I had to jump through to make this comment and maintain some semblance of privacy is infuriating but at least it's not reddit I guess?

But do go on about your security standards...

Edit: BTW, you can set signal to hide your number completely. Combined with FOSS-based encryption keys on-device makes signal the only choice for trying to maintain freedom of expression globally.

Nothing will protect anyone from messaging with a snitch who knows how to screenshot though. Food for thought.. get to know your neighbors now.

I use Element.

The irony of you posting this on lemmy, which won't allow posting from a VPN or masked email addresses is not lost on me.

The amount of hoops I had to jump through to make this comment and maintain some semblance of privacy is infuriating but at least it's not reddit I guess?

But do go on about your security standards...

Edit: BTW, you can set signal to hide your number completely. Combined with FOSS-based encryption keys on-device makes signal the only choice for trying to maintain freedom of expression globally.

Nothing will protect anyone from messaging with a snitch who knows how to screenshot though. Food for thought.. get to know your neighbors now.