4 ms·
Ask HN: Which messaging apps do you use?
I used to enjoy signal, but now it's mostly useless as only a handful of my contacts adopted it. I would like something that's what Signal used to be so I can message all my contacts with encrypted messaging once again.
What options are out there?
- mattl 2y ago- Signal - iMessage - WhatsApp Very few people using Signal, a few people on iMessage (a group chat or two, plus a few key people) Everyone else is on WhatsApp I also have Slack for communities, IRCCloud, Ivory for Mastodon and BlueSky.
- whoitwas 2y agoAren't you concerned about whatsapp and meta owning all your messages?
- mattl 2y agoNo they’re all encrypted in the same way Signal is.
- whoitwas 2y agoThat's not my understanding. I thought whatsapp messages were stored encrypted, but server side.
- mrkeen 2y agoWhatsapp makes the claim the messages/calls are end-to-end encrypted. (But the app is also running on each end, where the unencrypted messages live. There's nothing stopping that app from sharing those messages directly with FB.)
- saurik 2y agoNo: while there are some notable (and maybe critical) differences surrounding how group chats are handled, by and large WhatsApp literally uses Signal's protocol.
- whoitwas 2y agoOkay. The messages are encrypted in flight. I will never use a Meta product.
- saurik 2y agoGreat: and presumably you have good reasons for that. On the other side, I will never use a Moxie Marlinspike product. But, for both of us: the messages themselves being insecure isn't a concern, so spreading FUD about such is net harmful.
- whoitwas 2y agoYou trust Meta? haha I don't think there's any need to spread misinformation. They're one of the worst companies on the planet. Right up there with Nestle.
- mikewarot 2y agoDiscord for friends and family Skype for my late friend Ward, and my other friend Jim I get the occasional message when I'm logged into Facebook through the web.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- solardev 2y agoIt's a network problem. People will flock to the easiest to use solutions, not the most secure. Just don't share anything sensitive over the unencrypted channels. It doesn't matter what options are out there. People aren't going to bother.
- aristofun 2y agoTelegram is the only decent messaging app you can truly actively use and not get pissed off every few hours. Also have to use whatsapp once in a while because some relatives and friends prefer familiarity to quality.
- whoitwas 2y agoI'm not familiar with Telegram other than it's popular in EU? Why is it less frustrating for you?
- aristofun 2y agoIt is the other way around - others are terrible pieces of software. Telegram just works as it expected to. Perfect intuitive UX, flawless features execution, plenty of features both for basic and advanced hardcore users. One of just few examples of software products that you can call great.
- whoitwas 2y agoI downloaded Telegram and tried to use it, but it looks like it's not for SMS. More like a discord sort of thing. I'm trying to find a decent SMS app for Android. I don't think one exists anymore.
- aristofun 2y agowdym "SMS"? Which exact features you miss? There is no better messaging app than telegram.
- whoitwas 2y agosms is the messaging protocol typically used by phones. it's the default for text messages on android. mms is group message and rcs is another protocol. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS
- mmaniac 2y agoAll my online friends are on Discord, but I don't like it. Family and IRL friends use WhatsApp.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- constantinum 2y agoWhatsapp for friends and family Slack for work Telegram for apartment community email for very very close friends iMessage for those using ios
- mindwork 2y agoTelegram - 80% this is my preferred method of communication iMessage - 10% for friends who refuse to install telegram Whatsapp - 5% for video calls. Surprisingly Telegram video call quality degraded over last 4-5 months for users in USA. So now I have to use facetime + whatsapp combo Misc - 5% Telegram is years ahead of the rest by user experience and features.