6 ms·

And meanwhile people keep on ignoring Tox when not sh*ting on it.

by thepangolino 5y ago

akvadrako 5y ago
I've never heard of Tox, but it doesn't even have an iOS client. That's a good reason to ignore it.
- forgotmypw17 5y ago
  Is that like ignoring something because it doesn't have an AOL keyword?
  - hansel_der 5y ago
    no, it is ignoring a communcation service that probably (acording to market share) half of your contacts cannot use
- INTPenis 5y ago
  That's such a silly statement when you're a slave to Apple, which is closed source. You could be using an open source, non-googled, android OS with an open source Tox or Briar client.
  - ulzeraj 5y ago
    I do care about all those things but after that response I might keep ignoring Tox for a while.
  - geraltofrivia 5y ago
    Sure, you could. How many people do? I don't. I could. But that doesn't solve my problem with Tox. I use IM apps to keep in touch with people in my social circle. I've been coercing a lot of my close friends to switch to Matrix (I use the word "element" because they're not tech savy and I don't want them to be too off-put), and some of them actually do. If Tox does not have an app on iOS store, that, as of now, makes it impossible for me to suggest it to approx. 60% of my friends, folks I exchange instant messages with, on a daily basis. Due to this, I'm sure you could see why this limitation makes this platform/service absolutely useless for me.
    - Multicomp 5y ago
      from a certain pragmatic sense, I agree with you. a messenger app that wants wide adoption needs to have clients for the devices the userbase uses. adding device switching costs on top of app switching costs is not something i'm after. granted my goal is simply to have just a bit more privacy than the plaintext bulk scanning that messenger does, so i use centralized signal rather than something 'purer' like running my own matrix. (though i do run my own zulip) matrix p2p at general availability will be my next move after signal once signal has its next big outage
    - southerntofu 5y ago
      > If Tox does not have an app on iOS store, that, as of now, makes it impossible for me to suggest it to approx. 60% of my friends If iOS does not allow 3rd party programs on "their" phones (or GPL'ed software on their "store"), that, as of now, makes it impossible for me to suggest it to 100% of my friends. It's easy to shift the blame on volunteer developers when you have a multi-billion corporation making their lives miserable (see also the background notification issue on iOS). Also, mostly rich people use iPhones. The rest of us use cheap Android devices or dumb phones... iPhones are non-existent in my social circles, except for the odd second-hand-with-broken-screen iPhone someone got for free.
      - ranger_danger 5y ago
        Sounds like the bigger issue is your friends do not care about privacy.
      - geraltofrivia 5y ago
        > iOS does not allow 3rd party programs [ ... ] or GPL'ed software ... I one hundred percent agree that not allowing GPL software on the store is problematic. I am still torn on whether not allowing 3rd party programs on their store is problematic or not. As a person on HN, of course I would LOVE if they did allow third party stores/downloading application distributables and executing them. But considering the innovative nature of malware/spyware and the tech-illiteracy of my mother, I can't help but feel if she isn't better off on a platform where applications go through _some_ form of human verification, and a random pop up on some random website would not end in her details being leaked/accounts being hacked/phone being bricked? > iPhones are non-existent in my social circles That's a fair point. Developing one less app would make the turn around time for the rest of the stuff faster for the supported platforms. At some point of time though, the folks behind Tox would need to min-max this out for optimal availability and usability.
ad404b8a372f2b9 5y ago
Hadn't heard of it before. It looks really good, any particular reason people shit on it?
- aero-glide2 5y ago
  Both have to be online to transmit messages. As there is no server.
  - snvzz 5y ago
    With grease around that. Clients will buffer offline messages, and send them when the other end is online. More or less how skype used to work, before it got bought by Microsoft and centralized.
    - SuchAnonMuchWow 5y ago
      That doesn't work if you are never (or not often) online at the same time as the other. I use signal to chat with my cousin who is in another continent, and he is online only when within reach of public wifi when he's outside, which is at night for me. My phone is always connected to 4G, so maybe what you propose could work in this specific case, but in other cases it could be an issue.
      - snvzz 5y ago
        >That doesn't work if you are never (or not often) online at the same time as the other. If that was the case, you'd use email, not a realtime chat platform. And keep in mind, it was never an issue with the old, decentralized Skype.
- nani8ot 5y ago
  It does not support iOS, which limits it's uses.

And meanwhile people keep on ignoring Tox when not sh*ting on it.

akvadrako 5y ago

I've never heard of Tox, but it doesn't even have an iOS client. That's a good reason to ignore it.

forgotmypw17 5y ago
Is that like ignoring something because it doesn't have an AOL keyword?
- hansel_der 5y ago
  no, it is ignoring a communcation service that probably (acording to market share) half of your contacts cannot use
INTPenis 5y ago
That's such a silly statement when you're a slave to Apple, which is closed source. You could be using an open source, non-googled, android OS with an open source Tox or Briar client.
- ulzeraj 5y ago
  I do care about all those things but after that response I might keep ignoring Tox for a while.
- geraltofrivia 5y ago
  Sure, you could. How many people do? I don't. I could. But that doesn't solve my problem with Tox. I use IM apps to keep in touch with people in my social circle. I've been coercing a lot of my close friends to switch to Matrix (I use the word "element" because they're not tech savy and I don't want them to be too off-put), and some of them actually do. If Tox does not have an app on iOS store, that, as of now, makes it impossible for me to suggest it to approx. 60% of my friends, folks I exchange instant messages with, on a daily basis. Due to this, I'm sure you could see why this limitation makes this platform/service absolutely useless for me.
  - Multicomp 5y ago
    from a certain pragmatic sense, I agree with you. a messenger app that wants wide adoption needs to have clients for the devices the userbase uses. adding device switching costs on top of app switching costs is not something i'm after. granted my goal is simply to have just a bit more privacy than the plaintext bulk scanning that messenger does, so i use centralized signal rather than something 'purer' like running my own matrix. (though i do run my own zulip) matrix p2p at general availability will be my next move after signal once signal has its next big outage
  - southerntofu 5y ago
    > If Tox does not have an app on iOS store, that, as of now, makes it impossible for me to suggest it to approx. 60% of my friends If iOS does not allow 3rd party programs on "their" phones (or GPL'ed software on their "store"), that, as of now, makes it impossible for me to suggest it to 100% of my friends. It's easy to shift the blame on volunteer developers when you have a multi-billion corporation making their lives miserable (see also the background notification issue on iOS). Also, mostly rich people use iPhones. The rest of us use cheap Android devices or dumb phones... iPhones are non-existent in my social circles, except for the odd second-hand-with-broken-screen iPhone someone got for free.
    - ranger_danger 5y ago
      Sounds like the bigger issue is your friends do not care about privacy.
    - geraltofrivia 5y ago
      > iOS does not allow 3rd party programs [ ... ] or GPL'ed software ... I one hundred percent agree that not allowing GPL software on the store is problematic. I am still torn on whether not allowing 3rd party programs on their store is problematic or not. As a person on HN, of course I would LOVE if they did allow third party stores/downloading application distributables and executing them. But considering the innovative nature of malware/spyware and the tech-illiteracy of my mother, I can't help but feel if she isn't better off on a platform where applications go through _some_ form of human verification, and a random pop up on some random website would not end in her details being leaked/accounts being hacked/phone being bricked? > iPhones are non-existent in my social circles That's a fair point. Developing one less app would make the turn around time for the rest of the stuff faster for the supported platforms. At some point of time though, the folks behind Tox would need to min-max this out for optimal availability and usability.

ad404b8a372f2b9 5y ago

Hadn't heard of it before. It looks really good, any particular reason people shit on it?

aero-glide2 5y ago
Both have to be online to transmit messages. As there is no server.
- snvzz 5y ago
  With grease around that. Clients will buffer offline messages, and send them when the other end is online. More or less how skype used to work, before it got bought by Microsoft and centralized.
  - SuchAnonMuchWow 5y ago
    That doesn't work if you are never (or not often) online at the same time as the other. I use signal to chat with my cousin who is in another continent, and he is online only when within reach of public wifi when he's outside, which is at night for me. My phone is always connected to 4G, so maybe what you propose could work in this specific case, but in other cases it could be an issue.
    - snvzz 5y ago
      >That doesn't work if you are never (or not often) online at the same time as the other. If that was the case, you'd use email, not a realtime chat platform. And keep in mind, it was never an issue with the old, decentralized Skype.
nani8ot 5y ago
It does not support iOS, which limits it's uses.