4 ms·

Would love to see a side-by-side comparison of iMessage, Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram on this.

by baxtr 2y ago

tptacek 2y ago
You already know how Signal is going to come out here, because this is something people complain incessantly about (the inconvenience of not getting transcripts when enrolling new devices).
- Reisen 2y ago
  I agree with the principle here wholeheartedly. One addendum though is I think this isn't quite the same as the mud puddle test. The idea behind the mud puddle test is if you've forgotten everything, but then manage to recover your data, then the principle must be that someone other than you has to have had access. With Signal, they intentionally refuse to sync data as an extra security step even if you have the keys, the software just refuses to do the syncing step. I'm glad they do personally and I'm not contradicting your point, just adding some notes. Just thought it worth noting. Edit: Actually, yeah that proves your point.
  - joshjob42 2y ago
    This isn't fully accurate. You can backup your Signal messages on Android with an encrypted file and a key you control. So yes, just installing on a new device isn't going to give you history. I'd prefer they offer a universal structure for that backup file so we could easily switch between Android and iOS and have some way to backup your data at all on iOS (presently if anything goes wrong when setting up a new phone you lose your entire message history).
- maqp 2y ago
  It's a bit unfortunate there isn't a mechanism to establish a key between your desktop and smart phone client that would allow message history to be synced over an E2EE connection. It's doable, but perhaps it's an intentional safety feature one can't export the messages too easily.
fsflover 2y ago
Matrix doesn't allow this. You need a dedicated chat key in addition.
niutech 2y ago
Here it is: https://www.securemessagingapps.com/ https://www.securemessagingapps.com/

Would love to see a side-by-side comparison of iMessage, Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram on this.

by baxtr 2y ago

Would love to see a side-by-side comparison of iMessage, Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram on this.

You already know how Signal is going to come out here, because this is something people complain incessantly about (the inconvenience of not getting transcripts when enrolling new devices).

Reisen 2y ago
I agree with the principle here wholeheartedly. One addendum though is I think this isn't quite the same as the mud puddle test. The idea behind the mud puddle test is if you've forgotten everything, but then manage to recover your data, then the principle must be that someone other than you has to have had access. With Signal, they intentionally refuse to sync data as an extra security step even if you have the keys, the software just refuses to do the syncing step. I'm glad they do personally and I'm not contradicting your point, just adding some notes. Just thought it worth noting. Edit: Actually, yeah that proves your point.
- joshjob42 2y ago
  This isn't fully accurate. You can backup your Signal messages on Android with an encrypted file and a key you control. So yes, just installing on a new device isn't going to give you history. I'd prefer they offer a universal structure for that backup file so we could easily switch between Android and iOS and have some way to backup your data at all on iOS (presently if anything goes wrong when setting up a new phone you lose your entire message history).
maqp 2y ago
It's a bit unfortunate there isn't a mechanism to establish a key between your desktop and smart phone client that would allow message history to be synced over an E2EE connection. It's doable, but perhaps it's an intentional safety feature one can't export the messages too easily.

fsflover 2y ago

Matrix doesn't allow this. You need a dedicated chat key in addition.

niutech 2y ago

Here it is: https://www.securemessagingapps.com/ https://www.securemessagingapps.com/