> Google has root, so it can change how app signing works at any time. This argument boils down to "what if the government compels Google to infect your phone

> Google has root, so it can change how app signing works at any time. This argument boils down to "what if the government compels Google to infect your phone with spyware", and it's already been established elsewhere in this thread that using a smartphone for sensitive communication might not be the best idea if the NSA is after you. Regarding advantages of Signal over WhatsApp, I just gave you one in the message you replied to. WhatsApp provides a lot of metadata to their servers (this is necessary for some of their features, like group invite links). And while end-to-end encryption protects the contents of your messages, Facebook can still observe when and how much you chat with whom. Some further advantages off the top of my hat: Signal has reproducible builds (on Android), the Desktop client works when your phone is off. They're also working on private contact discovery (I don't know how far this has progressed): https://signal.org/blog/private-contact-discovery/ https://signal.org/blog/private-contact-discovery/