6 ms·

A lot of people mention Telegram, as far as I can tell, it's a worse Signal. What advantages does it have over Signal?

read_if_gay_ 6y ago
Depending on your perspective, Signal is actually a worse Telegram. Telegram has the best UX and feature set ouf of all messaging apps, and privacy does not outweigh convenience for the vast majority of people.
- sdfhbdf 6y ago
  I'm still confused as to why Telegram doesn't have message reactions which every other platform has. I understand that some peoeple feel like it's not needed but if they don't want they wouldn't have to use and in my workflow when talking in groups is to use them extensively and replying with stickers is a terrible experience.
_ink_ 6y ago
I think the UI is better. Encryption is worse. But I like how they structured their data centers. They have sprinkled them into different countries and they claim that servers from different jurisdictions are necessary to access the data. So if an agency wants to access it, they have to get warrants from different countries. With all the war on encryption going on, e.g. forcing companies to include backdoors, I think this is the way to go.
- bigiain 6y ago
  > They have sprinkled them into different countries and they claim that servers from different jurisdictions are necessary to access the data. So if an agency wants to access it, they have to get warrants from different countries. That's a neat trick, but not as neat as Signal's "sure, here's all the data we have - the time and ip address of their last use." (I'm sure a bunch of the "better UX, UI, and features" people like in Telegram rely on them storing more data on their servers, so that comes down to a privacy/convenience tradeoff, which as others have pointed out almost always comes down on the convenience side for 99.99% of people...)
  - 7v3x3n3sem9vv 6y ago
    Close! Signal only keeps the date a number registered and the last day it contacted their servers. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/10/fbi-demands-signal-user-data-but-theres-not-much-to-hand-over/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/10/fbi-demands-sign...
toper-centage 6y ago
Signal is good for privacy and that's about it. Telegram has voice calls, videos calls, stickers and easy sticker creation, super convenient in-line gif/pic/video search, video and voice messages, and you can add people without sharing your phone number...
- dublinben 6y ago
  Signal has all of those features except the final one, which is of debatable value.

Depending on your perspective, Signal is actually a worse Telegram. Telegram has the best UX and feature set ouf of all messaging apps, and privacy does not outweigh convenience for the vast majority of people.

sdfhbdf 6y ago
I'm still confused as to why Telegram doesn't have message reactions which every other platform has. I understand that some peoeple feel like it's not needed but if they don't want they wouldn't have to use and in my workflow when talking in groups is to use them extensively and replying with stickers is a terrible experience.

_ink_ 6y ago

I think the UI is better. Encryption is worse. But I like how they structured their data centers. They have sprinkled them into different countries and they claim that servers from different jurisdictions are necessary to access the data. So if an agency wants to access it, they have to get warrants from different countries. With all the war on encryption going on, e.g. forcing companies to include backdoors, I think this is the way to go.

bigiain 6y ago
> They have sprinkled them into different countries and they claim that servers from different jurisdictions are necessary to access the data. So if an agency wants to access it, they have to get warrants from different countries. That's a neat trick, but not as neat as Signal's "sure, here's all the data we have - the time and ip address of their last use." (I'm sure a bunch of the "better UX, UI, and features" people like in Telegram rely on them storing more data on their servers, so that comes down to a privacy/convenience tradeoff, which as others have pointed out almost always comes down on the convenience side for 99.99% of people...)
- 7v3x3n3sem9vv 6y ago
  Close! Signal only keeps the date a number registered and the last day it contacted their servers. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/10/fbi-demands-signal-user-data-but-theres-not-much-to-hand-over/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/10/fbi-demands-sign...

toper-centage 6y ago

Signal is good for privacy and that's about it. Telegram has voice calls, videos calls, stickers and easy sticker creation, super convenient in-line gif/pic/video search, video and voice messages, and you can add people without sharing your phone number...

dublinben 6y ago
Signal has all of those features except the final one, which is of debatable value.