Memes @lemmy.ml

1y ago

its even more outdated

402 comments

I only use it because there's no way I could convince my friends and family to move to anything else.
There's no point in switching to another app if I then literally couldn't communicate with the people I need to through it.
- I've been using Beeper a month or two. They had a long waiting list, and initially it was subscription only, but they are working on smashing through the waiting list and have changed to a freemium model where you get it for free and (eventually) they will have extra features for subscribers.
  Basically, it's one chat app that connects to lots of different chat services.
  If you're technical, the app is a fork of Element, and the service uses matrix bridges to connect to different chat services, but it's all presented in a (somewhat) polished way. The wait list is because they are still struggling with scaling and quirks but if you're on Lemmy you're probably already well familiar with putting up with this.
  It covers heaps of chat networks. Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Signal, Telegram, and more. It also will let you SMS (unlike Signal 😬).
  You can also connect to Matrix rooms but you don't seem to be able to connect to an existing Matrix account (it uses a Beeper matrix account to connect).
  It doesn't do video/audio calls so they recommend you leave the original app installed and disable message notifications (but leave on call notifications) if you use this.
  
  app is closed source :/
  Looks cool though
  
  I remember I used to have Pidgin, but facebook closed the messenger API (I think, this was a while ago) How does this work?
  
  A modern-day Trillian.
  
  That's interesting!
  I'm just not sure the "security" of WhatsApp is preserved in that case but it's certainly better than not being able to talk to certain people at all.
  Also I think these kind of meta chat apps have been tried before and it usually doesn't end very well so I'm not sure I would be super optimistic.
  Any of the chat provider can break their link to beeper and since they probably don't really care about it it shouldn't very reliable.
  But a cool find nonetheless!
  
  Nice. Looking into this one. Although in reality I use about 95% whatsapp just because everyone else does. Wish we could all just switch to Signal or even Telegram but nah... Whatsapp is so engrained everywhere that it is not going to go away anytime soon.
  
  Well, that's super neat and very useful for my circumstances. I'm moving outside of the US soon to a place where WhatsApp is dominant, but I still want to use SMS/MMS with family and friends in the US since I doubt they'll make the switch. I've been using WhatsApp for about a year now while coordinating stuff for my soon-to-be home and I've come to the conclusion that WhatsApp is complete garbage.
- same here. Heck, even Nextcloud Talk is more sophisticated than frickin' WhatsApp these days...
- Same but replace WhatsApp with messenger and iMessage.
- I literally installed Telegram/Signal on my families devices, synced their contacts with the app, and said “if you want timely responses, message me here”
  
  I think this could help you.

Wait until you hear how many people use facebook messenger.
- 💀
- Yeah, that's the real "internet explorer of messaging services". Absolutely sucks to use it (doesn't even.deliver messages to me half the time), but 90% insist on it for chat groupa and such.
- Basically all of Scandinavia
- I'll take facebook messenger over whatsapp any day. At least it works on PC and has third party clients
- I do have like 2 people I only talk to once or twice a year that I don't have any other known contact for. But I only use it very rarely because of that. If I ever stop talking to them, I'll finally delete the whole account.

Signal is the best.
- The thing it's missing the most is better multi device support and an updated desktop client.
  For me, I think Matrix is more complete (specially since it backs-up your chats and media encrypted). The only thing it's lacking (at least Element specific) is encrypted chat search support on mobile.
  
  What matrix is missing is anyone that I know. Ultimately that is way more important than features in a messaging client.
  
  Signal client looks optimized on MacOS and Linux i don’t use Windows so not sure what’s going on there
  
  There's no way that we can have a mainstream alternative to imessage if we keep declaring a new app or protocol the new best one every two years.
  
  Yeah, it sucks that if I were using Signal only on my phone and eventually decide to start using it on desktop, it doesn't sync any conversation history, resulting in the desktop client showing nothing from before you set it up. It should have older devices send history to new ones. If you're permanently switching devices, are you losing that history for good?
- Still waiting for the ability to log in one two phones, and ideally also uncompressed photo/file sending
  But yea Signal is great
- SimpleX or Matrix are way better
  
  Session is good too but is only used by IT people… Signal is used by lawyers and many more
  
  SimpleX >>>> Matrix
- I don't think it's really a chat app. Isn't it just a text replacement? Or does it just use that number as your ID to use it? I have it, but only ever used it with one guy.
  
  It has lots of nice features over SMS: read/typing notifications, image/video support, proper groups, message expiration. I think that makes it a chat app

I wish people would stop using the Crowder meme template.
- Same. We even have a nice alternative. https://postimg.cc/rzvDYFXW
  
  From now on, I'll adhere to the "Calvin: Change my mind" meme format. Thank you for your input. 🫡
- Oh shit that is him! I never even noticed before. Major ick.
- How come?
  
  He’s a right wing piece of shit who constantly says and does the most unhinged shit. Don’t really follow him, but from the top of my head, he mocked George Floyd’s death, he mocks trans people on a regular basis..
- Why?
  
  Because he's an asshole. A grifting asshole to be specific.

Eh, whatsapp isn't ideal and its owner is one of the big devils of today, but it's the only way to send and receive instant messages among billions of people. I despise it, but it's the only way I can contact people. Needless to say, they don't give a single flying fuck about privacy.
Whatsapp outages make people migrate to Telegram for 1-2 days at most, nobody ends up staying there. Signal? I've only ever met three other people in RL who have even heard of it, and I work in IT.
A more apt comparison would be to languages. Whatsapp is english: clunky, weird, full of nonsense, but it's what "everyone talks". Signal would probably be lojban or esperanto.
- This is SMS in the US. No one uses WhatsApp, telegram or matrix. Every iphone user uses imessage and so we are stuck with SMS.
  
  Aside from needing a phone, I really don't see the issue with SMS. For sending quick messages to people directly, is there really a better tool? You (most likely) already have a phone plan, you already have a phone, and your phone is always on you. Everyone you're trying to contact is in the same boat, even people who are technically illiterate. All phones with phone plans support SMS, unless there's weird plans I don't know about.
  When it comes to more complex needs (group management, e2e encryption, etc) other services are better of course. I don't use SMS to text my group of friends, it's really not well suited for the job.
- As a Signal user and an Esperantist I agree. They both require a somewhat curious mind for you to bump into them in the first place. Unless you have that friend/relative who always recommends weird stuff for you (to ignore).
  
  Yeah, but I disagree. Signal doesn’t require that by design, it’s just as easy to use as WhatsApp (unlike something like Matrix or Lemmy). It’s just as easy to switch and has a better privacy. And while I even don’t use it much, I actually know quite some people on it (majority of which is non-techy).
  
  Why would it even be weird or anything? I only use Signal and its pretty much the same as whatsapp on the outside...just in blue. The only reason people dont use it is because "eVerYonE hAs WhAtsApP" and they dont bother. 20 useless crap apps but 2 messengers is too much
  
  as another signal user and esperantist, i unfortunately agree as well. but it doesnt have to be like this
  
  Signal was fantastic until they stupidly killed SMS integration.
- I'm not sure I have all of them, but I regularly use (privately)
  encrypted email
  unencrypted email
  text
  Meta Facebook Messanger
  Meta Instagram messages
  Meta WhatsApp
  Signal
  Telegram
  Microsoft Teams (yes, even privately)
  I'm tired boss.
  
  Look into Beeper! It just got RCS support in its last update. Not sure if they plan on supporting Teams though.
  If you're tech savvy though, look into setting up your own Matrix server for a Teams bridge.
- I have never used Whatsapp nor does anyone I know.
  
  Murican, I suppose.
  
  It's mostly not used in the US afaik. I've seen it in a lot of places in Europe and the middle east

SMS is IE, Whatsapp is Chrome, and Signal is Firefox. Use Signal/Firefox.
- I disagree. IE was incredibly proprietary, and SMS is at least an open standard.
  IE is...idk Facebook messenger or Imessage or something.
  
  ICQ
- So how do I get my friends to use Signal instead of fucking Facebook messenger?
  
  You can educate them if they ask but otherwise you can't force them because most people are very resistant to this type of thing.
  Your best option is to stop using FB messenger yourself and tell them they can reach you on Signal. If they're really your friends, I'd like to imagine they'd follow you over. If your friend group switches, more people are sure to follow which will help speed along mass adoption and normalization via word of mouth to other friends and family.
- What is Beeper/Matrix? Although I'm from the golden age of Trillian/MirandaIM 😆
  
  This is whole other category :)

Chrome is the Internet Explorer of the browsers.
- Nah definitely safari
  
  Right, WebKit is the alpha versión of Blink and KDEs KHTML the ancestor
  
  Safari 110%

Look, I hate Facebook just as much as the next guy. But I live in The Netherlands and it's the primary way I can contact literally everyone I know. So changing to another messaging app is hard here.
- same in India , everyone uses whatsapp even for official communication
- Same in Australia. I have Facebook disabled, but I've got messenger to keep in the loop
- I'm from the NLs and removed WA last year. What I liked about switching to Signal: people who care about me also installed Signal, so I didn't lose that. What I did lose? All the groups that I got into through the years, all of which were completely non-essential. If I need messaging with someone outside Signal I just use sms. The best part of leaving WA is that you'll find a lot of people willing to install Signal for your sake, and that's how it becomes easier for others to make the move.
- Just removed whatsapp a few years ago. If people need you, they will install Telegram!
  
  Then you find out nobody needs you and you get depressed.

Steven Crowder is a garbage human and doesn't deserve a meme template
- Wow... I didn't know who the guy was.
  From Wikipedia:
  Early in his career, Crowder worked for Fox News and posted satirical videos on conservative media platforms. He then began hosting Louder with Crowder, a daily political podcast and YouTube channel with commentary and comedic content. It includes a recurring segment called "Change My Mind", in which Crowder invites passers-by to converse. In December 2012, Crowder and members of Americans for Prosperity were involved in an altercation at a demonstration in Michigan concerning the state's recently passed right-to-work law.[3]
  Crowder's YouTube channel has been demonetized twice, first in 2019 after repeated use of racist and homophobic slurs.[4][5][6][7] His channel was re-monetized after YouTube said Crowder addressed his behavior and content,[8] and it was demonetized again in March 2021, with uploads suspended for a week, after violating YouTube's presidential election integrity policy against advancing false claims about the election's integrity.[9] YouTube suspended the channel again for two weeks in October 2022 for violating its harassment, threats and cyberbullying policy.[10] The channel had 5.86 million subscribers as of May 2023.[11] Crowder moved his show to Rumble in March 2023.[12]
  You're absolutely right. He doesn't deserve a meme template.
  
  To be fair, Wikipedia doesn't give him justice. He is far worse. Either he is an utter foul or he is a full blown Nazi. I am not saying "oh i disagree with him, so Nazi" I am saying "he supports white supremacists, 'race realists', ethno nationalists, by giving them a uncritical platform and by giving people a uncritical platform who give those people a uncritical platform"
  If you want see how Steven Crowder does his politics and a good case towards why I think that way, https://youtu.be/cXZ6BZzQeCQ Steven Crowder wanted to know what a white supremacists is and claimed to feel like people are calling him one unfairly and a guy decided to walk everyone to the thought process of how and why people think what they think.

Fuck Steven Crowder and any meme based on his bullshit
- Who's Steve Crowder?
  
  A asshole conservative influencer whose bad faith knows no bounds. He's also recently been in the news for treating his ex wife like a slave/property. Really creepy shit.
  Tldr; he's a huge asshole.
  
  The why has been explained, but everyone assumes you know who Steven Crowder is. He's the guy in the meme.
  If you already realized that, that's fine. It was a recent discovery for me.
  
  Everyone always says this every time this meme is posted without explaining why he sucks. I'm not motivated enough to Google it. Yes, I understand the irony of the fact that I'm writing this, and could have just googled it in the amount of time I've taken to type this out. I'm still not googling it.
  
  Alt Right think tank leader

Steven Crowder is the wife abuser of the meme world.

Nah. SMS and iMessage are the IE of messaging. Unsafe and locked in.
- iMessage I'll give you, but how is SMS locked in? It's a completely open standard.
  
  I was thinking of SMS alternatives at a carrier level... But yeah, you're right.

signal and telegram are so much better, don't know why we can't get over that shit app
- telegram is awesome but please don't use it if you're looking for total privacy, as (by default) chats are not e2e-encrypted (this is done to improve sync/seamless multi-device chat history).
  also they introduced a discord nitro-like subscription like a year ago and started putting all new features behind it....
  
  wasn't telegram the top privacy app after signal like? other than matrix but I don't consider it
- Tbh, Signal is really lacking features at this point. That's making it incredibly hard to convince others on using it.
  
  Signal's desktop app is just horrible. Whatsapp doesn't even have a proper one.
  
  What features?
  
  It's also really buggy, and it's got worse performance than even element. Like the calls don't even make it through most of the time, and instead the other person just gets a missed call notification after you stop dialing them.
- Collective Action Problem is not a joke jim, Billions of people suffer every year

In some countries like India, people just assume that everyone uses whatsapp. It's gotten to the point where whatsapp has become the definition of messaging (for most people).
I don't see how Whatsapp is outdated to the point where one would compare it to IE, but I'll say whatsapp is more like Google Chrome than IE.
- That's the reality in most of the world nowadays. Latin America is exactly the same (including Brazil) and while traveling through Europe every single Airbnb communication with the hosts was made through WhatsApp... 8 years ago, I imagine it's even more massive now.
  My last trip to the US a co-worker was really surprised I kept sending voice notes and I realized I haven't called my wife in at least my last 3 trips... But we communicate a lot. Async is way better than sync.
- Agree. I have family in Europe & they all use WhatsApp.

Here, use this:
- seriously, who made that jackass a meme?

Except it does nearly everything any other messaging app does, so there really is no need to force a switch. Unlike Internet Explorer, that used outdated rendering engine making it both slow and buggy, it was unsafe as it used ActiveX, didn't support ad-blockers it actually broke or didn't open most new website.

WhatsApp seems very conservative with adding new features. I generally feel the features they do decide to add are all pretty useful. Telegram on the other hand doesn't ever seem to slow down with the new features. Many of them seem great, but just as many I would never use. I'm still wondering why Telegram won't introduce end-to-end encryption as a default.
- The whole sticker implementation is absolute dog shit. How hard could it be to do a half decent implementation with customizable keywords for searching, custom sticker categorization, and backups? I have hundreds, if not over a thousand, stickers and it's impossible to access them quickly to find the one you want. You end up just adapting to whatever is on your most used list, and you're stuck scrolling for a while to find a different sticker, which In an active chat group it means you end up reacting super late to everything and the chat has moved on at that point.
  MSN and the MSN+ plugin had this nailed down 20 years ago. Even telegram has a better implementation where you just add the entire sticker library for each new sticker; you end up with stickers you didn't ask for, which is a negative, but everything ends up categorized in SOME way at least.
  Its also ridiculous that whatsapp can't be bothered to offer sticker creation in-app.
  Dont get me started on chat participants count limitations and how utterly USELESS archiving a chat is. You can mute the chat and archive it, and a single message will just pop it back to the top of your list, as if you weren't trying to actively avoid that. And whatsapp has been pretty useless for big chat groups such as big neighborhoods and the like. My HOA hasn't added me or my friends to the neighborhood chat groups historically due to size limitations, which in itself perpetuated a toxic approach from the HOA where only sycophants are allowed into these groups. Most neighbors are left in the dark over decisions and meetings, which is utter stupidity and has 100% been aggravated by whatsapp's limitations. Doesn't matter that they've implemented alternatives to this, you try to get hundreds of boomers to understand how to use community chats.
  
  You must live in a huge neighbourhood. Your points are valid, though you can now choose to keep chats archived even when receiving a message. Settings > Chats > Keep chats archived.
- e2e encryption makes it difficult to provide fully cross-platform messaging experience, this is probably why they are not looking at it
  
  They aren't implementing e2e by default because that would limit the amount of data they collect and sell to intelligence agencies.
  
  e2e encryption makes it difficult to provide fully cross-platform messaging experience
  Why?
  I can easily encrypt a message on my x86_64 Windows desktop, send it to my x86_64 Linux laptop, and also my ARM64 Android phone, and be able to decrypt it perfectly.
  If I can do it then a development team can too.
  
  You can easily implement AES 256 in JavaScript. So you can tap the web framework on any device and run your app on just about any platform.
  The problem is, They no longer get signal intelligence from it and can no longer monetize it.
  
  Why would it be difficult? Encryption isn't difficult (any more than adding any essential feature would be) and is platform independent. It doesn't matter what device you're using, encryption and decryption are commonly used.

I hope that the DMA gets passed in the EU. It'll (hopefully) break the monopoly worldwide
- Interoperability is a weird one though. Imagine WhatsApp can connect to Signal, and people use this feature. What would then be the point of using Signal, if WhatsApp gets the data after all?
  (Signal has already announced not wanting to support this, I just used it as an example)
  
  As I understand it, your example should be the other way around. WhatsApp will need to offer a public API to allow Signal to send and receive messages to/from WhatsApp users.
  Signal is unlikely to be deemed a gatekeeper, so can keep their closed communication ecosystem. They can just optionally choose to support interop with WhatsApp. If they prefer, they can also have big warning signs in the UI, when their users decide to utilize that interop.
  
  I just don’t want to be tied to an apple device to Message people who only have iMessage. I live outside of the US but all my family, friends, and contacts are there.
  I feel locked into iOS as international texting and calls would be so expensive.
  
  The point is that anyone could switch at any time and we wouldn't have to make switch all at once.
  There would be real competition.
  
  True. However there are certain advantages
  WhatsApp gets only a part of your data (coz many people might be on different apps)
  You don't have to run WhatsApp on your device so they can't collect that data either
  I know it's not perfect but better than the current scenario and a step in the right direction
- Oh man, I hadn't heard of the DMA before. How exciting!
  
  I only heard of it because I follow Matrix blog.
  I saw the technical discussions (if you are a tech person I would recommend watching those on YT) and it seems that EU is trying to find some middle ground where companies won't have to incur a lot of losses but still be open and create a fair environment for newcomers.
- I think it's already been passed, it should be coming into force next year!
  
  Oh wow. TIL! Any recommendws sources? I want to read the full coverage

Its privacy is very questionable, but how is it outdated?
- How is the privacy questionable?
  It’s one of the more secure clients. It has E2E across everything: DMs, Group chats, phone calls, video calls and all.
  In contrast, Telegram, which is often championed doesn’t even support E2E for group chats. Laughable.
  Yes, Whatsapp does some on-device analytics for advertising purposes, but your message is always E2E encrypted before sending.
  They had multiple 3P audits to prove it.
  Some delusional people use Facebook messenger instead claiming both are FB anyway. NO. FB messenger doesn’t have any encryption. Your messages are stored in plain text.
  Yes, Signal and Matrix etc. are better, but no one is using them and that goes against the very idea of communication.
  
  I know that they allegedly use the Signal proctol, but I find it hard to trust since not even the client is open source, even if their protocol is what they say it is, the keys could be harvested without issue, which is probably what happens when you use the reporting feature that allows them to read a piece of the message history, and they could still log your text input while typing. Of course, no way to verify neither their claims nor our theories.
  #but no one is using them
  Agreed, I did convince a fair few people, but it's not always easy
- Telegram laughs in the corner Whatsapp is copying telegram features that are implemented years before
  
  Telegram is a superior messaging app but it's privacy is questionable. The fact that they keep their encryption protocol hidden is bothersome and they aren't e2ee by default. And as stated before, it's not certain their e2ee is as private as they claim.
  
  TG has become a very big source of Piracy in recent years.
  People only use TG for that mostly at this point.
  
  How is that, in any way, answering the question?! You could mention some of those features...
  
  It's copying features that hangouts has abandon.
  
  Sorry, I don't have Twitter, I tried opening the profile, but it keeps blocking me, even Nitter and Squawker don't work
  Edit: uhh, why did you edit out asking me to look up Telegram X's Twitter profile? Now I look dumb lol
  
  Yeah telegram may be better but the amount of people who use it is very few, the only people I know uses telegram is for porn or download movies and song, not for messaging. In the actual state telegram doesn't worth it because probably you circle of friends doesn't use it. Of course this is the case of my friends and my country (Colombia) where it's more probably find one to use WhatsApp than telegram

Op thinks only the USA exists apparently

Can we further compress this meme template to the point that nobody could possibly tell it's Stephen Crowder in it
- here you go:
  
  it's 5.6 kB webp
  
  That's surprisingly high quality for something measured in 4 digit bytes
  
  Beautiful, thank you
- Crowder... ugh. What a terrible human being.

I'd say Viber is worse (unbearably slow, has ads), and it's the most used messaging app in Ukraine which just sucks. (basically everyone has it)
people are slowly switching over to Telegram but it still has less then 50% market share...
- Isn't Telegram Russian owned as well?
  Lol, god Lemmy is so different than Reddit.
  Asks a question, gets down voted. only two comments from users who bothered to educate. Lemmy really just a community full of knowledge gate keepers that think they are better than Reddit users. Reddit users would have at least provided and article or some knowledge.
  After doing some digging Wikki does say that it owned by two Russian brothers. One who sold a social media platform of his after a Russian infiltration and Russian government pressure for him to do so.
  I think I will just keep using Signal.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegram_%28software%29#%3A%7E%3Atext%3DHistory-%2CDevelopment%2CRussia_after_resisting_government_pressure.?wprov=sfla1
  I think I am about done with Lemmy. I have seen post after post of smug users with shitty ways of thinking like that killing more people is going to solve the world's problems. Or that one platform is the only way to be. Or that they more about privacy and security than anyone else.
  Lemmy users are just as shitty as the rest of the Internet in their own ways.
  
  No, they actually got banned in Russia for a while

I never have any problems Whatsapp. My messages get sent and I receive messages no problem.
- Yeah the real problem is giving Facebook any control at all over your messaging experience.
  
  And the player above is the problem that you can't send messages to someone on WhatsApp withour having their app too...

Matrix or Signal only for me. nobody uses Whatsapp here in the states, sms is simply insecure in every way, and telegram has very suspicious roots imo, along with a lack of e2ee and a terrible ui.
signal is the most secure option and matrix is federated making it the most "open" option.
- "Nobody uses Whatsapp here in the states"
  Man I wish I had your friends. The only non-iMessage app I can get everyone to use is WhatsApp. And I don't have an iPhone.
  
  I mean, I'm not in any better of a camp. all of my friends refuse to get off discord.
- I'm in the states, I know loads of people using whatsapp. I'm in several group chats.
  
  congrats you're an outlier I suppose. I've only met maybe 5 people that know what Whatsapp is. telegram is marginally more popular but only because a lot of drug dealers use it (they would have better luck with matrix or even signal)
- Signal was decent when Musk was promoting it. Then they started throwing in new features without keeping the app functional or thinking about budgeting. So now it's the worst performing chat app, basic functionality like calls are broken, and they want to monetize the app through crypto to cover up their lack of planning.
  Matrix is pretty great, but the clients are still pretty bad, also it's confusing as hell to anyone who doesn't understand the idea of federation. I've tried getting people on element, but every single person needed help to create an account and get to chatting, and they've all deleted the app after a while. Also, did matrix fix that encryption bug that was leaking data if someone connected through a different server?
  
  signal works perfectly for me idk wym, I'm not sure how musk promoting it means anything. afaik the matrix leak is fixed
- Telegram does have E2EE, just not in regular chats. Its secret chats are E2EE, as are its voice and video calls.
  I also think it has the best UI of any of the messengers, personally. It's customizable and very polished overall, at least on Android. Very smooth/optimized while having loads of features and lots of little animations to make things flow nicely without getting in the way.
  I do like Signal and Matrix clients as well, though I just wish Matrix had more of a user base.

Whatsapp is still supported
- Maybe he/she means holding innovation back.

Someone has not used Line...
- I've only seen it being used in Japan. Are there other places where its widely used?
  
  No.
- I love Cony and Brown but I'm never using that app.
- Line is awesome, didn't know people hated it.

I’ve somehow never used WhatsApp.
- You must not be from Europe or Brazil then
  pls send help
  
  Oh, that recruitment agent sometime ago.
  Are you using facebook?
  No
  Whatsapp?
  No
  Xing?
  No
  ...
  Hey, just send me an E-Mail.
  
  You don’t want their help if they are from the US.
  US heavily uses SMS still.
  No privacy at all.
  That means the government has full access to all your messages.
  Whatsapp on the other hand has E2E for everything.
- I wish I could say the same but if you want to date you have to here. I despise and absolutely hate how you have to you use a phone number to register. And then every contact you have can add you to a group so everyone there now can have your number.
  I've had a stalker before and I hate that stuff like that makes it trivially easy for her to get my number again. I literally can't understand how women are okay with absolutely shitty systems like this. I really can't repeat enough how much I strongly hate WhatsApp and how everyone else thinks it's so good for exactly the reason that I hate it. It's too easy to send messages despite me never giving you my number to begin with. SMS is the same but you can't add me to a group without my permission and share my number with a group of people I don't know.
- Me too
  
  Same. I hate all these messaging apps people use. Unless you need security, then just use the one your phone already has. Otherwise use signal.
- How though
  
  No idea. It’s just not a platform anyone in my life has used in a manner that dragged me in.
  
  Two letters. US.
  They use SMS still.
  Unless everyone they know has iPhones.
  Then it’s iMessage.
  
  Surely it can't be so popular it's inconceivable to you that someone hasn't used it.

Except people at one point realized that IE is shit and switched to better alternatives. I don't see this happening with WhatsApp - everyone and their great grandfather uses it and all other messengers are niche occurrences
- In the EU, Microsoft also got forced to tell people about alternative browsers. Maybe the DMA will be WhatsApp's equivalent.
  
  And then what? Networking effect is why Whatsapp is used. What's the point of using a superior chatting app if no one I know uses it?
- Weird, I don't know anybody that uses WhatsApp.
  
  Are you American by any chance?

Technically, unironically, its latest desktop version for Windows is better than expected. It's no longer based on Electron or whatever, consumes less resources than before and works adequately.
That said, I still don't like it.
- Right click on .config file, left click on show more options, left click on edit with Notepad++.
  Fuck you Microsoft!

WhatsApp is usually 2 years behind Telegram for all cool and interesting features.
- On the other hand telegram makes it a chore to have encrypt messages, doesn't allow encrypted group chat, and breaks normal functionality when encrypted (reactions, GIFs, etc.)
- Tbh telegram has had meesages stored on cloud since long , however whatsapp does not even give proper backups

It has become better, though.
Multi-device (without your primary device needing an internet connection)
Deleting messages
Editing messages
Reactions
Larger file uploads…
- WhatsApp functionality is closer and closer to functionality of XMPP 10 years ago.
  Maybe after another 10 years they finally adopt nickname@whatsapp.com function.
  
  I'm not old enough to remember XMPP first-hand, so allow me to ask what functionality you mean. Do you mean to imply a fediverse, where whatsapp.com is merely an instance, such as lemmy.world is here?
- Telegram is better in pretty much every way, and has been for almost a decade
  
  Messaging Apps are only as good as whatever Apps most people use.
  
  telegram isn't even e2ee, why would anyone recommend it.
  
  Telegram's frontend apps*
- Have they fixed the problem where you have to use your phone number as your ID?
  Cos that's what's stopping me signing up. I refuse to use my phone number as my ID for a service that isn't actually carried over SMS or phone calls.
  
  WhatsApp and Telegram become this big, including less recognized Signal, because they use phone numbers.
  It won't be changed, ever.

i think we should stop using this specific variation of the meme even though it's the original because crowder is cringe
- Isn't he that trumpy guy? I have no idea
  
  Uber Trump guy who also abused his wife. He also loves dressing on drag (no issue with that) despite wanting drag shows banned.
- Who the fuck cares. Nobody is going to start listening to him based on a dumb meme, just like nobody is going to start dating bees based on a dumb meme.
  
  I gained a bee fetish from memes' power of suggestion
- what did he do?
  
  Well abused his wife for one
- Not simply cringe, but so many faults, there are too many to name. Pick one.

It has at least one advantage relative to ie6.exe - it's cross platform.

I have WhatsApp and Viber. 95% of people use WhatsApp, even though I prefer Viber. I do not really have anything against it, even if FB owns it. And I do not have a FB account.

WhatsApp is like hemorrhoids, you can try to ignore it but it's getting your attention eventually no matter how hard you try.
- And all the Europeans have it
  
  Definitely tje easiest way to have a family group chat between multiple countries.
  
  Southern Africa would like a word... Even the BANKING system is in the boat...

Best messaging app is the one that has most users and is free to use. Sadly the truth is so simple, that's why everyone in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America use WhatsApp.
- Asia
  Not in East Asia. Japan is all about LINE, South Korea uses KakaoTalk, and China uses WeChat.
- Am in Europe and have never used Whatsapp. In fact, the only guy I know who does started using it because the company he was with at the time had a lot of business in Shanghai where they DO use it a lot.
  
  Its ubiquitous here in Spain, too.
  
  in belgium it's probably the most popular messaging app.
- I hate this fact about Whatsapp (Asia same story, different clients).
- Messaging app that needs to have a lot of users in order to be usable is shit.
  No ability to send a message to user of other app should be the biggest disadvantage.

I still use IRC daily

more like netscape....

No, I don’t think I will.

Signal is my jam.

I wish. It's completely replaced text messaging in a lot of countries, it's not going away anytime soon
- But why? Why not just text people? What does WhatsApp give you that’s worth handing over literally every private conversation to Facebook?
  
  Texting is expensive and mobile data for Whatsapp messages is much cheaper, even though mobile data prices are still outrageous.
  In South Africa 1 SMS costs 50 cents on standard rates, and 25 cents on bundle rates. For one message. There are 100 cents in one Rand obviously. 1GB of data is around 80 Rand. If one WhatsApp text message is 30kb, 1GB of mobile data gets you over 30 000 WhatsApp texts. Meanwhile that same 80 Rand only gets you around 300 SMS's on bundle rates.
- In the balkans everybody is using viber. 😖
  
  I honestly hate these apps but have no choice but to use them. Shit sucks.

Aim wants a word.

That is a spicy take I must day

Then what is facebook messenger? Netscape?

How you interpret this comment is like an age test.

in our country we use viber and I don't know which one is worse
- My family in the U.S uses Viber. We switched when hangouts was originally going to be axed. Tried to get everyone on Signal but was told it wasn't as friendly for the elderly family.
- That's a name I haven't heard in a long time… what country?
  
  Serbia
  
  Lithuania

I agree 100% with you. Whatscrapp is just a proprietary user subjugating version of XMPP. I prefer to communicate using xmpp protocol because it's federated like fediverse. You can use conversation for android

My cousins and I used to stay up until the early hours of the morning using TextPlus on our ipods lol

Not the IE, the telex

I've been out of touch since IRC and ICQ were the preferred way to communicate over the internet. What are folks using nowadays?
- My family is all on Facebook and now exclusively communicate through Messenger.
  My friends use WhatsApp.
  I want to convince people to use Signal but it's not catching on.
  Meanwhile some co-workers are on Telegram. I tried it and immediately got spam.
- Telegrams

But its a privately owned product and capitalism breeds innovation?

This is the stupidest use of this stupid meme with this stupid piece of shit that I've ever seen
- Even Zuckerberg uses signal.

#TelegramMasterRace
- Bruh, seriously?
  
  What do you have against it?
- Yea people here aren’t a big fan of Telegram sometimes but it’s still much more privacy oriented than most main-stream messengers, and it’s just a very well-made app
  It’s fast, supports uncompressed file sending, can log in on multiple phones at once, has cute stickers, customizable appearance, etc

I really don't get the need to have an app that does messaging. My phone DOES messaging, built in. Why do I need another one?
- I assume you're American? When you need to talk to people across borders you need something like WhatsApp. SMS doesn't cut it.
  I'd rather use Signal but whatever.. I'm being practical. Everyone I know is on WhatsApp.
  
  The moment when I hear someone talking about SMS it is almost always an American. Can’t recall the last time I sent a text message to someone like that, wouldn’t surprise me if it was 10 years ago (for context: am Dutch)
  
  Yeah, same here. In Germany WhatsApp is extremely dominant. I tried to move to Threema, but only a couple of people are using it in the end, even after discussing the whole Facebook thing. Some people are also on Signal, but again, only a few. In the end, especially for groups, I still have to use WhatsApp.
  
  Also happens to me, signal seems so much better.
  
  You do know SMS can cross borders too?
- I hope you don't mean about SMS.
  
  Any messaging app is vastly superior to SMS
- featureset and costs - most messaging apps don't support markdown to the same extent, sms and mms may cost extra depending on your carrier and contract, etc.
  not defending whatsapp but rather the concept in general - use signal/discord myself depending on the situation
- I'm talking about telegram signal and matrix clients
- Fratures like sending location, quoting messages, formatting text etc.
  And also encryption (ideally E2E) and maybe privacy (depending on the messenger).
  
  But see, his messages either go through apples servers or googles servers.... what could be the harm in that?
- The messaging thats built in is unencrypted SMS. For more advanced features like group chats, sending media, voice notes, encryption, cross device support etc, an encrypted messaging app like Signal, Session , Matrix or even Telegram is better
- What is the other person has a phone with different app preinstalled? What if you change your phone?
  
  My wife has an iPhone, I have an Android phone, our kid has Android, his wife has iPhone... there have been zero problems using the native apps singly or in groups.
  In fact, I had more problems trying a low-rent provider (Mint) than I ever did the various stock messaging apps.

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pls send help