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I find it extremely suspicious, and have pointed it out to others before, that the Signal developers refuse to distribute it without Google Play services (spywa
by jfax 5y ago
I find it extremely suspicious, and have pointed it out to others before, that the Signal developers refuse to distribute it without Google Play services (spyware). Coupled with its CIA funding background, I'm glad I've used it. https://yasha.substack.com/p/signal-is-a-government-op https://yasha.substack.com/p/signal-is-a-government-op
- lucgommans 5y agoNot everything government-funded must be government-backdoored, that is quite the conspiracy theory for an open source application. You can also download the APK directly from the website (not using Google's store), which will self-update, and will function also if you don't have Google Play Service on your device. There are caveats, like if you firewalled off Google services because outright removal will mess up other apps and an alternative ROM with µG means no more (proper) camera app: in that case Signal will detect Google Play, wait indefinitely for the push message via Google, and thus not function at all. So I don't like to defend them on this front, but it's simply not true that it's impossible to use without a Google backdoor on your phone.
- barsonme 5y agoIt’s because they use FCM for sending push notifications and you need Google Play Services to use FCM. And Signal uses push notifications to know when to wake up and fetch data. Otherwise, it has to poll and do other ugly stuff which drains your battery quicker or makes the user experience much worse. Signal’s taking a pragmatic approach that’s the best for most people, but not everybody.
- anjbe 5y agoThat’s not true. Signal does provide an Android version without Google Play Services. https://signal.org/android/apk/ https://signal.org/android/apk/ I’ve used it for a long time on a GrapheneOS phone with zero Google software installed at all.