5 ms·

For me, Signal is so much better for my friend or work group chats. My friends are on a mix of devices and platforms, and Signal is a lot nicer for embedded med

For me, Signal is so much better for my friend or work group chats. My friends are on a mix of devices and platforms, and Signal is a lot nicer for embedded media sharing. And the auto disappearing feature is a must!

adamtaylor_13 3y ago
Hmm… Does signal only really work when everyone uses it? Or can you include people who are just using regular SMS?
- Jtsummers 3y ago
  Only Signal users. The Android app used to work with SMS/MMS until a couple years ago.
- temp0826 3y ago
  I don't think any app besides iMessage can even get permission to read SMS on iOS, there are no alternative message apps I'm aware of like with android.
- bebopfunk 3y ago
  It used to have SMS support but they yanked it maybe a year or so ago. The big issue on the user end was, if someone deleted Signal and you used Signal for your SMS, it would keep sending them signal messages and not SMS. So you were left not realizing you were texting essentially a dead number.
  - JoshTriplett 3y ago
    ...much like iMessage.
  - crtasm 3y ago
    It didn't show the icon for the message status, same as any other signal message?
- issafram 3y ago
  The regular SMS/MMS feature was removed and for good reason. Many people cried about it but it was the right call. Messages would not be E2EE and people could easily think all messages sent through Signal are safe when they weren't.
jwells89 3y ago
The main things holding back Signal usage in my case is practically nobody in my social circle using it and the desktop client not being as nice as that of Messages or Telegram, the latter being particularly relevant for myself and contacts who primarily message with their computers rather than their phones.
- WirelessGigabit 3y ago
  Using Linux iMessages doesn't even have a client...
- godelski 3y ago
  Sounds like time to become an evangelist then. I had to do this in my group and other than security a major benefit is just that getting potatos instead of pictures has significantly declined. Here's my advice: don't sell security as the foremost feature. Sell it as "iMessage, but for everyone." You got stickers, reactions, high quality videos and images. Then mention security, it is the cherry on top.
  - pavon 3y ago
    Every single person I converted to using Signal stopped using it when SMS support was removed. HN tends to be a younger crowd whose peers cycled through a number of social-networking and messaging apps as popularity waxed and waned. But older generations don't see any compelling reason why they should bother splitting their conversations over multiple apps, when literally everyone with a mobile has texting. Being a drop-in replacement for texting, so they could have additional features without additional hassle was the only thing that convinced them to switch and now it is gone. I've given up evangelizing Signal, and resigned to the idea that cross-platform RCS is the only thing that will bring encryption to the majority of my contacts.
    - godelski 3y ago
      Yeah I think this was a bad move for Signal, but I didn't see that happen to my group fortunately. In Signal's defense, my understanding is that this was really an Apple thing. That Apple only lets iMessage connect to SMS so the apps were differing significantly. I also get the fatigue. Moxie said centralized because they needed to move faster. But Signal has always moved very slow, so it does feel off. But to be fair, it's not like most messenger apps do much.
ramses0 3y ago
Signal is actually pretty good for the occasional "cross-iOS/Android" video chat. Can't use iOS Facetime, don't want to use $META, google/meet is OK, but isn't quite as straightforward as "@Signal => CALL_ME".
- macshome 3y ago
  Anyone can use FaceTime now. Non Apple devices will just join via a browser.
  - issafram 3y ago
    Which is ridiculous
  - illiac786 3y ago
    What? how does that work? If you call the cell number of an Android device on facetime, what happens on the android end?
    - snazz 3y ago
      You text them a link to join the call. The Android user can’t be the one to initiate.
      - illiac786 3y ago
        Oh. Ok that's never going to work. "Hey there please click on this link to talk to me" => Malware! Blocked.
        simondotau 3y ago
        It’s how many Zoom and Teams calls terminate. Not saying it’s a good idea, but it’s not especially unusual.
        illiac786 3y ago

adamtaylor_13 3y ago

Hmm… Does signal only really work when everyone uses it? Or can you include people who are just using regular SMS?

Jtsummers 3y ago
Only Signal users. The Android app used to work with SMS/MMS until a couple years ago.
temp0826 3y ago
I don't think any app besides iMessage can even get permission to read SMS on iOS, there are no alternative message apps I'm aware of like with android.
bebopfunk 3y ago
It used to have SMS support but they yanked it maybe a year or so ago. The big issue on the user end was, if someone deleted Signal and you used Signal for your SMS, it would keep sending them signal messages and not SMS. So you were left not realizing you were texting essentially a dead number.
- JoshTriplett 3y ago
  ...much like iMessage.
- crtasm 3y ago
  It didn't show the icon for the message status, same as any other signal message?
issafram 3y ago
The regular SMS/MMS feature was removed and for good reason. Many people cried about it but it was the right call. Messages would not be E2EE and people could easily think all messages sent through Signal are safe when they weren't.

jwells89 3y ago

The main things holding back Signal usage in my case is practically nobody in my social circle using it and the desktop client not being as nice as that of Messages or Telegram, the latter being particularly relevant for myself and contacts who primarily message with their computers rather than their phones.

WirelessGigabit 3y ago
Using Linux iMessages doesn't even have a client...
godelski 3y ago
Sounds like time to become an evangelist then. I had to do this in my group and other than security a major benefit is just that getting potatos instead of pictures has significantly declined. Here's my advice: don't sell security as the foremost feature. Sell it as "iMessage, but for everyone." You got stickers, reactions, high quality videos and images. Then mention security, it is the cherry on top.
- pavon 3y ago
  Every single person I converted to using Signal stopped using it when SMS support was removed. HN tends to be a younger crowd whose peers cycled through a number of social-networking and messaging apps as popularity waxed and waned. But older generations don't see any compelling reason why they should bother splitting their conversations over multiple apps, when literally everyone with a mobile has texting. Being a drop-in replacement for texting, so they could have additional features without additional hassle was the only thing that convinced them to switch and now it is gone. I've given up evangelizing Signal, and resigned to the idea that cross-platform RCS is the only thing that will bring encryption to the majority of my contacts.
  - godelski 3y ago
    Yeah I think this was a bad move for Signal, but I didn't see that happen to my group fortunately. In Signal's defense, my understanding is that this was really an Apple thing. That Apple only lets iMessage connect to SMS so the apps were differing significantly. I also get the fatigue. Moxie said centralized because they needed to move faster. But Signal has always moved very slow, so it does feel off. But to be fair, it's not like most messenger apps do much.

ramses0 3y ago

Signal is actually pretty good for the occasional "cross-iOS/Android" video chat. Can't use iOS Facetime, don't want to use $META, google/meet is OK, but isn't quite as straightforward as "@Signal => CALL_ME".

macshome 3y ago
Anyone can use FaceTime now. Non Apple devices will just join via a browser.
- issafram 3y ago
  Which is ridiculous
- illiac786 3y ago
  What? how does that work? If you call the cell number of an Android device on facetime, what happens on the android end?
  - snazz 3y ago
    You text them a link to join the call. The Android user can’t be the one to initiate.
    - illiac786 3y ago
      Oh. Ok that's never going to work. "Hey there please click on this link to talk to me" => Malware! Blocked.
      - simondotau 3y ago
        It’s how many Zoom and Teams calls terminate. Not saying it’s a good idea, but it’s not especially unusual.
        illiac786 3y ago