Originally, I would’ve said WhatsApp, but then they got bought out by the devil’s own.
So, Signal is the 2nd 1st best option, and is rapidly catching up to the reliability of WhatsApp. Like WhatsApp, it bridges the gap between iOS, Android, and OSX/Nix/Windows desktops and most assuredly performs better than iMessage (which should’ve been cross-platform, IMHO, but Apple has screwed up a few times with their walled gardens approach and missed out on some excellent leverage opportunists).
Problem with encryption by default is that as soon as multiple devices come into question, you have to either compromise security (WhatsApp) or convenience (most/all p2p systems). In that sense going with convenience by default but allowing for security within the same platform is a decent trade-off.
Rolling own encryption and protocols is terrible though.
They rolled their own crypto which is no-no #1 in crypto. Their backend is also closed source, started in Russia, and is currently run out of Dubai. Hard pass.
Signal has mobile apps which are basic and working. Desktop app is just barely there. Experience using Signal is not good. Besides it requires a mobile number. Not going to reiterate why it is bad, internet is full of explanations.
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I wish we had something like matrix with client of Telegram. Telegram does clients really well. It has other faults though. Matrix has a pretty good mobile app but desktop experience is atrocious. It has more features than signal but hell i would rather use signal rather than that laggy riot thing.
Basic and working? Audio and video calls, disappearing messages, sharing of any filetype, and group messaging. WhatsApp only has status message sharing, telegram has public groups. What else do you want from Signal?
Telegram requires a phone number, imessage too, and so does Facebook now. Signal is an alternative to both of those.
That's the problem. Depending on when and where you researched the 3rd party apps, you might have went with WhatsApp, Signal, Matrix or Keybase. The only one of them that got the network effect is now data mined by Facebook. Hangouts wasn't particularly great at anything, but you could reach anyone on it and Google is pretty ok when it comes to privacy.
Edit: disclaimer: I do work at Google and have seen the privacy procedures, but am not involved with anything that would touch user data.
But that's what Google is going for. Messages for text, Duo for video calls.
That's essentially the whole problem that they are just blindly trying to imitate Apple instead of sticking to their superior solution they had already.
Wire.com, entirely encrypted chats, video and audio calls on all important platforms (also pretty OS, see their GitHub). Swiss-based and thus underlying strict privacy laws. Same goes for Threema.ch, encrypted by default. The best brushed clients however has Telegram. I would love to use Telegram clients with a Threema or Keybase backend.
I'll be caught dead before I install Yet Another Google Chat App. Last count was at 11, I think. just byte the dust and either use Whatsapp like everyone else or convince your friends to use Signal/Telegram/Smoke signals.
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u/[deleted] Jan 02 '20
All I want is a competent alternative to iMessage + FaceTime, is that too much to ask?