Signal – an ethical replacement for WhatsApp
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I don’t know - this hype about Matrix reminds me of XMPP which was similarly popular a decade ago. Today, nobody even remembers it anymore.
schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 11:11 zuletzt editiert vonPepperidge farm remembers, and so do I. Lots of people I know use XMPP (Cheogram, Dino, etc).
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I don’t know - this hype about Matrix reminds me of XMPP which was similarly popular a decade ago. Today, nobody even remembers it anymore.
schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 11:15 zuletzt editiert vonWhich hype? Matrix as a protocol is used for a decade now, especially by various big governments (French, Luxembourg and German governmental messenger, various German states, German and Polish armed forces, German healthcare messenger, various smaller projects in Latin America), is bridgeable (I currently have it bridged to Whatsapp and Signal amongst others) but I really don't see a hype - on the contrary I only see people predicting me the immediate apocalypse of Matrix for 5 years now, currently due to matrix.org (one of a hundred instances) introducing a premium account model for the most cost intensive (heavily media sharing)users.
(See below for that). -
This post did not contain any content.schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 11:18 zuletzt editiert von
I like Signal. I even got all my close friends and family on it, specifically to message me because I won't use whatsapp. The PIN reminders are annoying it enough to be legitimately holding it back from mass appeal imho
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This post did not contain any content.schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 11:22 zuletzt editiert von
Proprietary servers is still proprietary software
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Proprietary servers is still proprietary software
schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 11:25 zuletzt editiert von humanius@lemmy.worldDon't let perfection stand in the way of good enough
It may not be the holy grail, but moving away from Meta-owned Whatsapp is already a pretty significant improvement -
signal not being on fdroid is a strike against them
schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 11:25 zuletzt editiert vonFair. There is Molly on fdroid if you like.
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When you've been around a while, you begin to notice certain trends.
This particular trend being the one where the young, bright, ethical start-up turns into the sort of monster they originally rallied against, ensh*ttifying their product and spouting all the same reasons for it.
Signal is relatively young, bright and ethical. The cynic says "for now".
schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 11:32 zuletzt editiert vonThat's pretty much the only advantage of getting old.
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I like Signal. I even got all my close friends and family on it, specifically to message me because I won't use whatsapp. The PIN reminders are annoying it enough to be legitimately holding it back from mass appeal imho
schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 11:33 zuletzt editiert vonTurn them off
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This post did not contain any content.schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 11:38 zuletzt editiert von herseycokguzelolacak@lemmy.ml
I don't use Signal because they don't release the app in F-Droid. Signal devs refuse to release the app outside of Google Play Store, which is very evil.
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Signal used to be the best answer to this conundrum, since it would use its own internal protocols if it could or fall back to SMS if it couldn't, unfortunately they decided to drop SMS support a few years ago, citing users that sent sensitive information not realizing they were using SMS (that always felt kinda flimsy). I really disliked this change, because it raised the difficulty of adoption, from just getting people to replace their default app with Signal to making them manage multiple apps.
Now though, you basically need to advocate socially for the change you want to see in the world. Anecdotally, I started using Signal when they still supported SMS to talk with 1 friend group, and eventually convinced most of my closest family groups to also use it, many after SMS support was dropped. Apart from 1 tech illiterate elderly couple and 1 extended family member, I haven't received any personal (non-company related) text messages in like 5 months.
schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 11:38 zuletzt editiert vonThe sad truth is that the majority of people are treating WhatsApp exactly as a social network. It is there to send memes and stickers. See what others are up to without having to interact. Then mindlessly scroll through reels. Ocassionally purchase something via chat with a corporate bot.
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Turn them off
schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 11:43 zuletzt editiert vonThe fact that it's opt-out is already a reason to push people away from the app
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The fact that it's opt-out is already a reason to push people away from the app
schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 11:46 zuletzt editiert vonI think it was meant as a security feature in case someone picked up your unlocked phone. It perhaps someone cracked your front screen passcode.
I know if you forget your password and have to reset it you lose all previous conversations. It’s very secure this way. Bit of a pain.. but secure. -
This post did not contain any content.schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 11:49 zuletzt editiert von
Wasn't WhatsApp essentially built from Signal's base protocol anyway? Why use the meta clone when the original is right there?
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I don't use Signal because they don't release the app in F-Droid. Signal devs refuse to release the app outside of Google Play Store, which is very evil.
schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 11:59 zuletzt editiert vonYou can download the APK once from the website, after that it updates automatically.
https://signal.org/android/apk/ -
I think it was meant as a security feature in case someone picked up your unlocked phone. It perhaps someone cracked your front screen passcode.
I know if you forget your password and have to reset it you lose all previous conversations. It’s very secure this way. Bit of a pain.. but secure.schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 12:01 zuletzt editiert vonThat’s not even what it is lol.
And as the other commenter alluded to, defaults matter. You’re not replacing the thing everyone is already using by pitching “here’s an alternative that is better in ways which don’t affect your usage at all, and also you have to dig into the settings to turn off the optional daily popups”
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I don't use Signal because they don't release the app in F-Droid. Signal devs refuse to release the app outside of Google Play Store, which is very evil.
schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 12:15 zuletzt editiert vonI use obtainium to install it and it works flawlessly. The reason they don't publish it elsewhere is due to licences and push notifications iirc
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This post did not contain any content.schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 12:36 zuletzt editiert von
A truly ethical replacement would not need a phone number
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Don't let perfection stand in the way of good enough
It may not be the holy grail, but moving away from Meta-owned Whatsapp is already a pretty significant improvementschrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 12:53 zuletzt editiert vonBe careful with that ol' Chestnut. Circumstances may dictate perfection, where less than such may be catastrophic.
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Wasn't WhatsApp essentially built from Signal's base protocol anyway? Why use the meta clone when the original is right there?
schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 12:58 zuletzt editiert von zak@lemmy.worldNo. WhatsApp came first, but later adopted Signal's key exchange and encryption. WhatsApp was an independent company for years and had rejected several acquisition offers, but $19 billion is a big number.
One of WhatsApp's founders is now chairman of the Signal Foundation and a major financial backer of the project.
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Fair. There is Molly on fdroid if you like.
schrieb am 21. Juni 2025, 13:03 zuletzt editiert vonMolly is great.
