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I've been looking for a Skype alternative since the security of Skype was weakened after it was acquired by Microsoft. I've had my account stolen multiple times

I've been looking for a Skype alternative since the security of Skype was weakened after it was acquired by Microsoft. I've had my account stolen multiple times because their support has changed the primary e-mail address of my account, I had to use the same method the social engineers used to get my account back. Since then I've avoided sharing anything slightly sensitive over Skype, as chat history is synced with anyone who accesses your account. Finding a replacement isn't easy, but I've used Wire (wire.com) for a year now and find it good enough feature-wise, and excellent security-wise. It has its quirks and can be a resource hog at times (the desktop app uses Electron IIRC), but it's worth switching from the security disaster that is Skype.

noja 10y ago
Why don't you try Jitsi? https://jitsi.org/ https://jitsi.org/
- marksamman 10y ago
  I just had a look at Jitsi and it seems like the Android app is in alpha stage, and that there won't be any iOS app (https://jitsi.org/Documentation/FAQ#ios https://jitsi.org/Documentation/FAQ#ios). Smartphone apps are important to convince my contacts to make the switch, and to be able to communicate with them over the same channel when they're away from the computer.
- raphaelh 10y ago
  You can also try https://meet.jit.si/ https://meet.jit.si/ Works directly in the browser (thanks to WebRTC), nothing to install, no need to create an accound. There's group video chat, screen sharing, youtube video sharing, collaborative text editing,... And it's free software :)
blunte 10y ago
I too switched from Skype to Wire, but it has been a challenge to convince other people to move to Wire. It has further been frustrating that it almost seems like the people running Wire have been trying to avoid marketing or letting people know that Wire exists. That makes me wonder about their long term intentions (and if I'll lose credibility with my contacts that finally migrate to Wire just before wire vanishes or gets bought out by Facebook or Microsoft...)
- marksamman 10y ago
  I wouldn't say that they've avoided marketing, they're active on Twitter. I made the switch over a single day by sending a message to all my contacts informing them about it and then proceeded to delete all contacts from my list. The people I speak to regularly were quick to switch, others have switched over the months. I still have to use Skype from time to time for conference calls with certain people, but I avoid it as much as I can and don't consider any conversation I have on Skype as private. Wire has also open-sourced their clients and a lot of components, so even if they were to vanish as a company, all work is not lost.
edwintorok 10y ago
I've looked at alternatives too, tried Jitsi.org and Ring.cx so far, with Jitsi seeming to be more robust when establishing connections through NAT. Thanks for the suggestion about Wire, will have to try that too.
zeratax 10y ago
You should definitely consider the matrix protocol (https://matrix.org https://matrix.org) that is used with riot (https://riot.im https://riot.im). Matrix allows for a complete decentralization and both the the protocol and the client are open source. There are even many other clients as matrix also works with for example weechat. One of it's biggest strength are the support for bridges to other messengers like slack, irc and gitter. I personally haven't yet tried group calls or video chat, but considering that those also use end to end encryption just as messages and attachement and that this encryption has been fully audited, I could barely be any less hyped about all this. As the author of this article pointed out, all of skype's flaws are more or less inherent of big centralized messengers and this is exactly what we get around with matrix. It's really amazing in what a great state it already is. Sure there is still lots of work left, but to me it appears to be the currently most promising project.
- pmlnr 10y ago
  Is matrix/riot ready for voice, video and conf video?
- tmikaeld 10y ago
  Both are too difficult for normal people to grasp and have no central id management so you have to copy it manually
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
tdkl 10y ago
Wire also recently added an username feature[1], where you choose a certain username and don't need to disclose your name or phone number for others to find you on it. This replaced looking up contacts per e-mail. [1] https://medium.com/wire-news/time-to-get-your-username-3a54fd31edc3#.2nxtcgm5y https://medium.com/wire-news/time-to-get-your-username-3a54f...

noja 10y ago

Why don't you try Jitsi? https://jitsi.org/ https://jitsi.org/

marksamman 10y ago
I just had a look at Jitsi and it seems like the Android app is in alpha stage, and that there won't be any iOS app (https://jitsi.org/Documentation/FAQ#ios https://jitsi.org/Documentation/FAQ#ios). Smartphone apps are important to convince my contacts to make the switch, and to be able to communicate with them over the same channel when they're away from the computer.
raphaelh 10y ago
You can also try https://meet.jit.si/ https://meet.jit.si/ Works directly in the browser (thanks to WebRTC), nothing to install, no need to create an accound. There's group video chat, screen sharing, youtube video sharing, collaborative text editing,... And it's free software :)

blunte 10y ago

I too switched from Skype to Wire, but it has been a challenge to convince other people to move to Wire. It has further been frustrating that it almost seems like the people running Wire have been trying to avoid marketing or letting people know that Wire exists. That makes me wonder about their long term intentions (and if I'll lose credibility with my contacts that finally migrate to Wire just before wire vanishes or gets bought out by Facebook or Microsoft...)

marksamman 10y ago
I wouldn't say that they've avoided marketing, they're active on Twitter. I made the switch over a single day by sending a message to all my contacts informing them about it and then proceeded to delete all contacts from my list. The people I speak to regularly were quick to switch, others have switched over the months. I still have to use Skype from time to time for conference calls with certain people, but I avoid it as much as I can and don't consider any conversation I have on Skype as private. Wire has also open-sourced their clients and a lot of components, so even if they were to vanish as a company, all work is not lost.

edwintorok 10y ago

I've looked at alternatives too, tried Jitsi.org and Ring.cx so far, with Jitsi seeming to be more robust when establishing connections through NAT. Thanks for the suggestion about Wire, will have to try that too.

zeratax 10y ago

You should definitely consider the matrix protocol (https://matrix.org https://matrix.org) that is used with riot (https://riot.im https://riot.im). Matrix allows for a complete decentralization and both the the protocol and the client are open source. There are even many other clients as matrix also works with for example weechat. One of it's biggest strength are the support for bridges to other messengers like slack, irc and gitter. I personally haven't yet tried group calls or video chat, but considering that those also use end to end encryption just as messages and attachement and that this encryption has been fully audited, I could barely be any less hyped about all this. As the author of this article pointed out, all of skype's flaws are more or less inherent of big centralized messengers and this is exactly what we get around with matrix. It's really amazing in what a great state it already is. Sure there is still lots of work left, but to me it appears to be the currently most promising project.

pmlnr 10y ago
Is matrix/riot ready for voice, video and conf video?
tmikaeld 10y ago
Both are too difficult for normal people to grasp and have no central id management so you have to copy it manually

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

tdkl 10y ago

Wire also recently added an username feature[1], where you choose a certain username and don't need to disclose your name or phone number for others to find you on it. This replaced looking up contacts per e-mail. [1] https://medium.com/wire-news/time-to-get-your-username-3a54fd31edc3#.2nxtcgm5y https://medium.com/wire-news/time-to-get-your-username-3a54f...