4 ms·

The comments here are so bizarre to me. I think this must be a USA thing. I had no idea signal even supported SMS, nor do I know anybody who uses SMS

toastercat 4y ago
It is a US thing. The majority of folks in the US still use SMS for text chat. The alternative is buying into a proprietary platform like WhatsApp, but not everyone you talk to is going to be on WhatsApp/FB Messenger/iMessage, etc, so you end up having 5 different chat apps installed on your phone at any time. SMS has been the only real ubiquitous one despite all its flaws.
roer 4y ago
I don't live in the US, and SMS support has been essential in convincing people from my parents' generation to give signal a try. I personally also like not ever having to open my phone's stock message app when I once in a while do get an SMS
Symbiote 4y ago
I don't send many SMSs, but I receive them: package delivery notifications, automatic appointment reminders, a message to say my car has been repaired, 2FA codes. I found it useful to have all these messages in a single place, although this change probably won't inconvenience me too much. However, I don't see any benefit.
Kiro 4y ago
Where do you live where people do not use SMS? In most countries I've been to and lived in in Europe SMS was very much used.
- athrun 4y ago
  Europe is a big place, but indeed I'd say in most of EU using SMS to communicate between people is a bit old school. I'd say most people have moved to WhatsApp (or equivalent). SMS is typically used for notifications-style messaging (or spam), so the impact of this change is probably minimal for a lot of people there. Even chat-bot/support style messaging in the B2C space are moving to WhatsApp (or equivalent).
endorphine 4y ago
Same here. I also considered this being a US-only thing. I couldn't care less about SMS. In fact, I hope getting rid of SMS support adds some capacity to the team for features/fixes I care the most about.
guerrilla 4y ago
SMS is used heavily by companies in Sweden too, for pretty much all notifications and often chat too. This is going to be a pain in the ass.
wardedVibe 4y ago
Why the rest of the world has converged on using a free closed source messaging service by a for profit company because of the privacy boggles my mind. I'd rather just stick with SMS if I can't feasibly use signal.
stjohnswarts 4y ago
Well over 50% of users of HN are from the USA, so what do you expect? Just because something is European doesn't naturally make it better.

toastercat 4y ago

It is a US thing. The majority of folks in the US still use SMS for text chat. The alternative is buying into a proprietary platform like WhatsApp, but not everyone you talk to is going to be on WhatsApp/FB Messenger/iMessage, etc, so you end up having 5 different chat apps installed on your phone at any time. SMS has been the only real ubiquitous one despite all its flaws.

roer 4y ago

I don't live in the US, and SMS support has been essential in convincing people from my parents' generation to give signal a try. I personally also like not ever having to open my phone's stock message app when I once in a while do get an SMS

Symbiote 4y ago

I don't send many SMSs, but I receive them: package delivery notifications, automatic appointment reminders, a message to say my car has been repaired, 2FA codes. I found it useful to have all these messages in a single place, although this change probably won't inconvenience me too much. However, I don't see any benefit.

Kiro 4y ago

Where do you live where people do not use SMS? In most countries I've been to and lived in in Europe SMS was very much used.

athrun 4y ago
Europe is a big place, but indeed I'd say in most of EU using SMS to communicate between people is a bit old school. I'd say most people have moved to WhatsApp (or equivalent). SMS is typically used for notifications-style messaging (or spam), so the impact of this change is probably minimal for a lot of people there. Even chat-bot/support style messaging in the B2C space are moving to WhatsApp (or equivalent).

endorphine 4y ago

Same here. I also considered this being a US-only thing. I couldn't care less about SMS. In fact, I hope getting rid of SMS support adds some capacity to the team for features/fixes I care the most about.

guerrilla 4y ago

SMS is used heavily by companies in Sweden too, for pretty much all notifications and often chat too. This is going to be a pain in the ass.

wardedVibe 4y ago

Why the rest of the world has converged on using a free closed source messaging service by a for profit company because of the privacy boggles my mind. I'd rather just stick with SMS if I can't feasibly use signal.

stjohnswarts 4y ago

Well over 50% of users of HN are from the USA, so what do you expect? Just because something is European doesn't naturally make it better.