So here's the thing, every time I try to move away from Facebook messenger I run into the same problem, nobody else in my friends or family actually want to use a secure, private messenger app like signal or telegram, my wife, my parents, my in-laws, my friends they're ALL on Facebook and they will never take signal seriously enough to actually use it, it really bums me out that there are these far superior options but without anyone else using them they're pointless..
Anyway what apps do you use to stay in touch with people?
Mandatory "don't put Signal and Telegram in the same sentence" notice. Not to be a snob, but Telegram is not "secure and private", all chats are not end-to-end encrypted by default, everything is stored on Telegram's servers with "forever-ever" retention. The end-to-end encryption is opt in, uses a dodgy encryption algorithm and has some limitations in terms of who you can contact and from what device etc.
Telegram is owned by Pavel Durov who also created the largest Russian social media platform VK, which later was overtaken by Russian state as a tool for crowd control and propaganda. Even if we assume that Pavel no longer has any ties with Russia and its "government", his biography should still raise at least some questions around whether one should trust Telegram.
And finally, Telegram seems to be going the "everything app" route lately, which makes it a one stop shop of personal communication, public channels, news, bots, stories etc. (you name it). While it is not a bad thing in objective terms, these features are not built with privacy in mind, as that would pose quite a technical challenge. This means that Telegram's privacy and security will only be sacrificed more and more to get more of the social features out of the door.
I agree with every point. The last paragraph doesn't have to be a problem though: telegram has very open and really nice APIs and enjoys a lot of FOSS 3rd party apps (only matched by matrix). Of course, we can only enjoy that as long the API usage is still free to use...
The last paragraph doesn’t have to be a problem though
It is not yet, but the trajectory implies it may become a problem down the road. We're, sadly, living this decade, where you can no longer ignore where a certain service is heading and how it monetises itself.
I like to give Pavel the benefit of the doubt and assume he was not a willing participant when Russia took over VK. That said, it still happened, so what is to stop them from taking over Telegram too whether he is complicit or not?
My preference is Signal Private Messenger app, but like you, I have problems getting some friends and family to use it. So for the ones that won't, I just use Chomp SMS for my texting app.
The 20-80 rules applies here. Anyway, that is a strategy that works for me too.
The rest would be SMS. Sending files is links to my self hosted nextcloud.
Signal desktop is designed to be a stand alone app that uses the phone phone to first verify the connection via QR but after that relays messages, calls, erc direct from and to the server, inrependently of the phone app.
It might not work for everyone, but my general advice is to go cold turkey. Inform your relatives that from now on they can contact you on Signal and then stop using FB. If they value keeping in touch with you, they will follow.
Yes but they would be wrong. Because they would be asking you to sacrifice your privacy for them, while you are only asking them for 30MB on their phones to install Signal
That's exactly my point: let's invert the scenario as there is no reason why we should be the ones compromising. The only objective difference is the privacy of the chosen application. Even if this would be equal too, we have just a much right to demand a specific protocol as they do.
I could never do that lol. I barely care enough to talk to people and even I'd feel a little alone/I don't like inconveniencing people. I do use Telegram for some people, but Signal is just used by nobody I know.
I use telegram and signal for different purposes and people.
I'm surprised no-one mentioned XMPP/Snikket nor matrix. Both platforms are FOSS, selfhostable and thus gives you total control over your means of communication. Check them out if you're curious (I prefer matrix, but snikket is more lightweight and easier to selfhost).
I have issues just getting people off SMS, never mind using a dedicated messaging app. I used to get folks to switch to Signal, because it also used SMS… what a headache, when that functionality got removed. I ended up moving to iOS, to take advantage of iMessage. It’s not as good as Signal, but it’s still a huge improvement.
I got plenty of gripes with Signal (acting like a de facto proprietary app, backing up horrendously difficult, gimping the Android options in order to get to "feature parity" with the less developed iOS app, serious UI/UX missteps - the bubbles colouring debacle, no AMOLED mode etc.). Having said that, I let everybody know it IS my main messaging app - if they want to reach me, that's where I'll be. I do still use WhatsApp (barf!) and Slack, but exclusively for work-related stuff and I force close them the minute I walk out the office (if something blows up, a good, old-fashioned call will do). People who really want to keep in touch will eventually use an encrypted app, even if begrudgingly.
Signal with 2 people who actually moved there with me, standard messages app that came with Samsung for most people, and Facebook Messenger Lite for anything that works better there, or contacting people who I'm not close enough with to get their phone number.
Pretty much everyone in my country uses WhatsApp, so that's what I use. I prefer to use Signal, but nobody I know uses it nor wants to migrate, so it just ended up as a glorified SMS app until Signal removed SMS support.
Well you could move to Matrix and integrate your messenger account that way it's a lot more seamless for everyone. You can get one person to do the same and you two start messaging securely via Matrix while you both keep in touch with the rest via the messenger integration. Then eventually everyone that cares even a little bit about Privacy will move over and no matter where they move you can keep in touch through Matrix and its many integrations.
How do you integrate messenger into matrix? I'm sorry if this has an obvious answer, but I'm totally zero when it comes to that, I haven't even seen it's UI.
I'm only familiar with self-hosting Matrix and if you do you install a plugin which acts as an API gateway of sorts which allows Matrix and Messenger to understand each other.
WhatsApp with most people (because that's what everyone uses), Telegram with the people I talk to a lot (a few college friends and my parents). Insta here and there, but that's mostly for people to send me reels, I don't really use the app for anything else. I've not used Facebook or the messenger for many years.
I deleted Facebook almost a decade ago. And I don't miss it at all. I got everyone I talk to regularly to switch to signal. It's helpful to have something that works across all devices and can send high quality pics and vids to groups of people on different types of devices.
Working on setting up matrix and hoping to make it easy enough for my close family and friends to switch over since I know I won't be taking away any features. Self hosting has been a fun thing to figure out. And I like not having any ties to any corp. for my messaging.
I use iMessage with my wife and mostly Signal with everyone else (rarely SMS). I actually managed to get most of my family and friends to install Signal, but then again I’m not a very social person. I deleted my FB and WhatsApp accounts.
I got my brother to move to signal after Whatsapp was bought and luckily he was able to start the chain reaction moving all our friends even my parents to signal
That's great! I wish that happened with me. I got my parents on it, but others were not willing to try it out. In the end, pretty much everyone I knew stuck with WhatsApp, and we're still there.
Sadly my family uses mostly Facebook messenger but my husband and friends use LINE messenger 😊 it’s cute but mostly popular in Japan, Thailand, Taiwan etc
I luckily divulged from FB messenger back in 2016. I use pulse sms on Android because I can text from a web browser. I realized I only used messenger because of the browser client. It's not private sense sms but eh, it's a pretty practical solution.
I’m mostly Messenger. I have WhatsApp and standard SMS for a handful of people. I did use Signal for a while but ended up back on Messenger. I’ve used WeChat in the past but don’t have the need anymore.
I’d like to use something a bit more federated but Messenger is where the people are.