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I am trying to get rid of WhatsApp. My strategy for this is: Use iMessage with friends in the Apple world. Convince the Android folks to start using Signal. Has

by baxtr 6y ago

I am trying to get rid of WhatsApp. My strategy for this is: Use iMessage with friends in the Apple world. Convince the Android folks to start using Signal. Has been quite successful so far.

giovannibonetti 6y ago
Telegram is a great alternative to WhatsApp. It's better in almost every aspect, as far as I can tell.
- yoavm 6y ago
  It's worse in the most important aspect for messaging: it is not end-to-end encrypted by default. It wouldn't be crazy to assume some could get access to your messages. [0] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/telegram-russia-ban-lift-messaging-app-encryption-download-a9573181.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/telegram-rus...
- msh 6y ago
  Except message security. Whatsapp is end2end encrypted by default. Telegram does not, they only provide transport security by default.
- tonyztan 6y ago
  Signal is a better choice because it uses end-to-end encryption by default.
- lxgr 6y ago
  Besides the obvious downside of not being meaningfully encrypted (even pointing out transport encryption as just "encryption" is borderline deceptive marketing these days, IMO), until recently it also had a very dubious business model. It now seems to be pivoting towards ad support, but isn't this exactly what people have been trying to get away from Facebook for?
GoldenStake 6y ago
I'm excited for the public launch of e2e encryption in the Android default Messages app. This would provide encrypted messages to a huge audience, everyone already on Android. Signal has stated that they will not support RCS (possibly that they can't due to technical limitations).
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
young_unixer 6y ago
Whenever I try to install Signal, it asks me to update Google Play Services. Sorry, but using Google Play Services seems worse than using Whatsapp.
- scotu 6y ago
  doesn't whatsapp use Google play services? that's how you normally do push notification on android
  - 29083011397778 6y ago
    When I disable all Google services, I still recieve Wire, whatsapp, Messenger Lite (for marketplace), and email messages. All messages are on-time, with Whatsapp coming through faster than on my coworkers iphones. Ironically, Fluffychat, a Matrix client, is the outlier - it relies on Google Services Framework to deliver messages
  - young_unixer 6y ago
    It works fine for me. Maybe notifications don't appear as fast as they did when I used Google Play Services (I'm not sure about this), but everything else works fine.
sneak 6y ago
iMessage's end to end cryptography has been backdoored via iCloud Backup, on by default since 2011. It uploads complete message history to Apple (even SMS, which they would not normally see) with Apple keys. Even if you have it turned off, your conversation partners won't. Have your Apple friends install Signal, too.
- Diesel555 6y ago
  https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303 > To access your data on a new device, you might have to enter the passcode for an existing or former device. > Messages in iCloud also uses end-to-end encryption. If you have iCloud Backup turned on, your backup includes a copy of the key protecting your Messages. This ensures you can recover your Messages if you lose access to iCloud Keychain and your trusted devices. When you turn off iCloud Backup, a new key is generated on your device to protect future messages and isn't stored by Apple. I didn't realize messages was an exception to storing the key on local devices.
  - sneak 6y ago
    > If you have iCloud Backup turned on, your backup includes a copy of the key protecting your Messages. iCloud Backup is not end to end encrypted. That linked article is designed to be intentionally misleading.

by baxtr 6y ago

I am trying to get rid of WhatsApp. My strategy for this is: Use iMessage with friends in the Apple world. Convince the Android folks to start using Signal. Has been quite successful so far.

giovannibonetti 6y ago

Telegram is a great alternative to WhatsApp. It's better in almost every aspect, as far as I can tell.

yoavm 6y ago
It's worse in the most important aspect for messaging: it is not end-to-end encrypted by default. It wouldn't be crazy to assume some could get access to your messages. [0] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/telegram-russia-ban-lift-messaging-app-encryption-download-a9573181.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/telegram-rus...
msh 6y ago
Except message security. Whatsapp is end2end encrypted by default. Telegram does not, they only provide transport security by default.
tonyztan 6y ago
Signal is a better choice because it uses end-to-end encryption by default.
lxgr 6y ago
Besides the obvious downside of not being meaningfully encrypted (even pointing out transport encryption as just "encryption" is borderline deceptive marketing these days, IMO), until recently it also had a very dubious business model. It now seems to be pivoting towards ad support, but isn't this exactly what people have been trying to get away from Facebook for?

GoldenStake 6y ago

I'm excited for the public launch of e2e encryption in the Android default Messages app. This would provide encrypted messages to a huge audience, everyone already on Android. Signal has stated that they will not support RCS (possibly that they can't due to technical limitations).

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

young_unixer 6y ago

Whenever I try to install Signal, it asks me to update Google Play Services. Sorry, but using Google Play Services seems worse than using Whatsapp.

scotu 6y ago
doesn't whatsapp use Google play services? that's how you normally do push notification on android
- 29083011397778 6y ago
  When I disable all Google services, I still recieve Wire, whatsapp, Messenger Lite (for marketplace), and email messages. All messages are on-time, with Whatsapp coming through faster than on my coworkers iphones. Ironically, Fluffychat, a Matrix client, is the outlier - it relies on Google Services Framework to deliver messages
- young_unixer 6y ago
  It works fine for me. Maybe notifications don't appear as fast as they did when I used Google Play Services (I'm not sure about this), but everything else works fine.

sneak 6y ago

iMessage's end to end cryptography has been backdoored via iCloud Backup, on by default since 2011. It uploads complete message history to Apple (even SMS, which they would not normally see) with Apple keys. Even if you have it turned off, your conversation partners won't. Have your Apple friends install Signal, too.

Diesel555 6y ago
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303 > To access your data on a new device, you might have to enter the passcode for an existing or former device. > Messages in iCloud also uses end-to-end encryption. If you have iCloud Backup turned on, your backup includes a copy of the key protecting your Messages. This ensures you can recover your Messages if you lose access to iCloud Keychain and your trusted devices. When you turn off iCloud Backup, a new key is generated on your device to protect future messages and isn't stored by Apple. I didn't realize messages was an exception to storing the key on local devices.
- sneak 6y ago
  > If you have iCloud Backup turned on, your backup includes a copy of the key protecting your Messages. iCloud Backup is not end to end encrypted. That linked article is designed to be intentionally misleading.