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Because it isn't a question of individual choice. I use Signal as much as possible, but here in Brazil it seems WhatsApp/Facebook has some deal with all the ce
by jbotz 5y ago
Because it isn't a question of individual choice.
I use Signal as much as possible, but here in Brazil it seems WhatsApp/Facebook has some deal with all the cellular operators by which the a) give customers "unlimited WhatsApp usage" that doesn't count against their 3 or 5 GB/month internet usage quotas, and b) give WhatsApp traffic preference when their networks are congested, meaning that sometimes Signal messages don't get delivered immediately but WhatsApp messages do. Really.
The "unlimited WhatsApp usage" as part of a basic plan alone means that Signal doesn't have a chance. Most people hit their quota limits during a typical month, and that means no more Signal messages/calls.
I'm sure it's similar in many other countries.
- LuciusVerus 5y agoYes, plus it's pointless trying to get my family to use Signal - they don't want to download an additional app to talk to me.
- sneak 5y agoThey will have to if you delete your WA account.
- maratc 5y agoThe other option for them would be not to talk to GP at all.
- skohan 5y agoThis is more likely imo
- sneak 5y agoSomeone who can't spend 2 minutes to install a free private messaging app to maintain a social or personal connection to me isn't someone who gives a shit about me (and whom I'm presumably better off without). Friends don't ask friends to submit to Facebook surveillance.
- maratc 5y agoWould you be willing to install "a free private messaging app", Facebook Messenger, in order to "maintain a social or personal connection" to a person in your family?
- sneak 5y agoFacebook messenger is not private.
- maratc 5y agoSo I gather you would refuse. Given your refusal, would you think that, for that person in your family, you would fit the description of "someone who can't spend 2 minutes to install a free [..] messaging app to maintain a social or personal connection"? Would you think that that person in your family would be presumably better off without you?
- toast0 5y agoI worked at WhatsApp until 2019 and worked on technical stuff for the WhatsApp part of the zero-rating deals. Part A is definitely part of that, but AFAIK, your part B, network prioritization was never part of the deal. Facebook does a lot of network peering though, and has PoPs in Brazil, so there's some potential that Signal goes over transit and WhatsApp goes over peering, but peering is not (or was not, when I was there) a requirement for zero rating. I think AWS may peer in Brazil as well? WhatsApp likely works better than Signal on congested networks because of the protocol design, timeout length, and DNS fallbacks. These are things Signal could improve on. If your network is so congested that packets are delayed 30-60 seconds and DNS always times out, I expect WhatsApp to still work, but not a whole lot else. That's solvable for other services, but it takes time and determination and accepting the use case as valid and important. Of course, all that and WhatsApp was still inaccessible for a significant amount of time today.
- asddubs 5y agoadditionally, android builds are also often shipped by OEMs to randomly kill apps running in the background, with an exception for whatsapp but not other messaging apps like signal and telegram