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submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by TendieMaster69@midwest.social to c/youshouldknow@lemmy.world

"When you use Signal, your data is stored in encrypted form on your devices. The only information that is stored on the Signal servers for each account is the phone number you registered with, the date and time you joined the service, and the date you last logged on."

This isn't an ad, I wasn't paid for this post. Just to clear the air: fuck facebook, fuck elon musk and twitter, fuck anyone who thinks this is a paid advertisement. I wish I was paid for this shit, I just wanted to spread the word. Thank you. 😀 👍

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[-] TheMinions@lemmy.world 66 points 2 years ago

The worst part of using Signal is to try and convince all your friends/family to use Signal. Otherwise it’s a pretty great messaging app. You can’t edit messages once they’re sent, but other than that it’s pretty great.

[-] cheesebag@lemmy.world 57 points 2 years ago

I used to donate to Signal, and they made the stupidest fucking decision I've ever seen.

You used to be able to use signal (at least on Android) as your default messenger app, sending encrypted Signals to other users, or SMS to non-signal users. Have a normie family member who doesn't know about computers? Easy, set it & forget it.

Now? They removed that functionality, so it only works for other signal users. Someone else had a good metaphor: imagine if http and https needed different web browsers & you couldn't see one on the other. How well do you think https uptake would have been?

So fucking stupid.

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[-] That_Idiot@mander.xyz 11 points 2 years ago

But you CAN delete messages for after they are sent if the chat is set up that way. You can also set chats up so that messages can't deleted. Or so that all messages expire and disappear after a period of time.

[-] PastaTrees@lemmy.world 58 points 2 years ago

First ad I've seen on Lemmy so far

[-] olpappy@mander.xyz 26 points 2 years ago

nature is healing

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[-] Cstrrider@lemmy.world 51 points 2 years ago

I wish they hadn't gotten rid of SMS though, that was the biggest sell for me over other options. I'm never going to get more than 2 or 3 people I regularly text to switch...

[-] rov3r@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago

Yes lol same. And because of the verification code that needs to be typed in every so often, my messages never reach them. I have to text them, “hey go to signal”, and then it finally goes through.

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[-] Impressive_Towel2@lemmy.world 48 points 2 years ago

Is this an ad? It feels like an ad.

Anyway I much prefer Signal but thanks to boomer co-workers I'm still also forced to use Whatsapp.

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[-] SoulKeeper@lemmy.world 47 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I do not like the fact that Signal requires a phone number to be used. If I want to talk to someone on Signal, I need to give him my Signal registered phone number. I do not understand why can't they introduce User name like Telegram so we do not have to reveal our phone number to others.

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[-] owatnext@lemmy.world 44 points 2 years ago

Yeah, then they got rid of SMS capabilities.

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[-] noodle@feddit.uk 44 points 2 years ago

I use Signal but it's on its own path to becoming enshittified too. Less like Reddit, more like Firefox, the people in charge are just clueless about the signal userbase.

It won't be long until there's a shift to an alternative because the current president of the signal foundation is one step away from turning it into Snapchat.

Instead of pumping money into increasing awareness or enhancing reliability of the service, the Signal team have wasted effort on features that nobody asked for, including its very own crypto shitcoin (a major red flag for any company). They also remove features people relied on, such as SMS support.

It's hard to trust the Signal team when they continually disappoint in such egregious ways.

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[-] ghariksforge@lemmy.world 44 points 2 years ago

I have been disappointed by Signal a lot.

  • They tie themselves very closely with Google services, to the point that they refuse to be on FDroid by design
  • There was a long period when they stopped publishing server side code when they were bashing others like Telegram for not open sourcing their server side code
  • Their Linux desktop client is absolutely horrible.
[-] pallas@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

They tie themselves very closely with Google services, to the point that they refuse to be on FDroid by design

While they do push the Play Store version, they also have an APK, and my understanding is that it does not rely on Google Play Services, though it might be buggier without them. If I recall correctly, the origin of Signal not being on F-Droid was related to the building and signature model that F-Droid used (builds by F-Droid, then signed by F-Droid's keys), as mentioned in, eg, this issue. With that said, it has been pointed out that there are alternatives, like a separate repository, than, eg, the Guardian Project uses, and F-Droid apparently does now have a process for developer-signed apks.

Their general hostility toward outside developers and forks, however, and that the awkward server side code availability seemed to be related to the brazenly problematic cryptocoin advertisement, are extremely disappointing, however.

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[-] Aftermath6187@vlemmy.net 39 points 2 years ago

I still wish they hadn't dropped sms on android. A few family members dropped signal as soon as they needed another app for messaging.

[-] skulblaka@kbin.social 19 points 2 years ago

I still don't understand why they did that, I used to use Signal for everything and while it was clear that it couldn't encrypt basic SMS I could at least do all my messaging in one place. Now, I can't communicate with 80% of my contacts via Signal even if I wanted to, forcing two separate messaging apps.

Just let me send unsecured messages. It's fine. As it stands now I don't think I've even opened Signal in nearly six months even though I'd much rather use it than the default messenger.

[-] GingerKun@vlemmy.net 15 points 2 years ago

Basically, it makes the whole platform less secure because you could accidentally send a non-encrypted message at any time. With SMS-free Signal, at least mistaken sent messages are still E2E encrypted.

Is their goal to become the new de-facto messaging app? Or is their goal to become the most secure messaging app for whistle blowers, etc for whom a single mistake could mean losing their life or their freedom?

[-] zalack@kbin.social 14 points 2 years ago

Have unsecured messages be opt-in and have a warning banner on non-encrypted messages. Maybe even a confirmation dialog.

That way people who want or need to be that paranoid can be, but the rest of us can have something a bit more convenient.

By disallowing SMS messaging they've just made it so a lot of people who were being secure when their contacts allowed, aren't being secure at all.

[-] VitoCorleone@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago

If they are so concerned about the privacy and lives of whistleblowers they should implement usernames (and multiple accounts) instead of forcing people to give their cell phone numbers to others.

The use of cell phones in an app supposedly made for dissidents and whistleblowers is the stupidest decision I've ever seen.

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[-] refugee_pirate@lemm.ee 29 points 2 years ago

Signal is good but I just can't make the people I text regularly to switch.

[-] TheLantern@lemmy.world 17 points 2 years ago

This is why it was so good that Signal supported SMS. It was much easier to get people to switch when they didn't have to think back who was on Signal and who was not before starting a conversation. Now people just default to text because they know everyone has that, and they don't have to waste time opening Signal, seeing yup, not on there before opening their SMS app, if they even bother.

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[-] SilenceInTheVoid@lemmy.world 29 points 2 years ago

I found the hardest part was convincing people to move away from the incumbents such as WhatsApp / FBM etc as all their contacts / friends / family were already using those platforms.

[-] locness3@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 2 years ago

Network effect 😃

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[-] Xttweaponttx@sh.itjust.works 24 points 2 years ago

I personally prefer apps on the matrix network! Www.Matrix.org has a list of client apps, but I've found Element is great on windows, steam deck, and android! Call quality and chat stability can get weird sometimes, but overall it's very very secure and pretty feature rich! 🙂

From the little bit I researched, it's kinda similar in the way that the fediverse works! It's decentralized, and one account works everywhere. Good stuff!

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[-] jose1324@lemmy.world 23 points 2 years ago

Tried to switch to signal. But it's useless without everyone i know switching over from Whatsapp. Which is like merged with our country at this point.

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[-] MargotRobbie@lemmy.world 22 points 2 years ago

Signal frustrates me, because Signal Foundation is clueless on what people actually want and it just feels like their product direction is so baffling it somehow turned into another failed Google messaging app without being a Google product(they even hired a former Google exec to run Signal!) I've never touched their crypto or stories, and I thought the SMS support removal makes zero sense and their justification is flimsy at best, it gave me Hangouts flashbacks.

The main problem with removing SMS support isn't that I can't convince my friends and family to switch any more(though very annoying), it's that since Signal has marketed itself as a highly private messaging app, it now has a certain reputation of being used for... particular things. Without SMS support, even having Signal installed on your phone looks suspicious, since you can't say that you're using it as a nicer SMS app anymore.

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[-] jacktherippah@lemmy.world 21 points 2 years ago

I prefer matrix since no phone number is required for signup there.

[-] porkrind3@lemmy.world 20 points 2 years ago

Got a surprising amount of contacts to move into signal from Whatsapp, though the iMessage gang can't stop iMessaging.

As an android user, I don't see why you would want to use something that restricts your secure messaging to a single platform.

As a result of Signal's poor decision to stop SMS service, I frequently forget to check my SMS app for messages.

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[-] EtherealZucchini@lemmy.world 19 points 2 years ago

The issue with Signal is hardly anyone I know is on it.

[-] toasteranimation@lemmy.world 18 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

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[-] 1337admin@1337lemmy.com 18 points 2 years ago

Since we're all using Lemmy, an open source, decentralized, self hostable platform, wouldn't suggesting Matrix make much more sense?

I host a Matrix and Lemmy server. Even if Signal is completely trustworthy now, will it always be? It isn't my server and it's a single point of attack for anybody (including governments) to insert (or demand) a backdoor.

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[-] cdysthe@lemmy.world 16 points 2 years ago

I've used Signal for years. Absolutely incredible messenger that does it all, and then some. Much better UX than FB Messenger and Whatsapp.

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[-] Orbituary@lemmy.world 16 points 2 years ago

I've used Signal from the earliest days. It has its flaws, but for the average human, it's the best fucking end to end encryption message platform around.

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[-] HulkSmashBurgers@reddthat.com 15 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I've been trying to get my wife to use signal for ages and she won't budge. She won't budge because she doesn't want to install another app that from her perspective does the same thing as texting (she's not as privacy conscious as I am and doesn't really care that signal encrypts missages). Lately I've been trying to sell signal as mre reliable since my work office has shit cell reception and once in a while messages will git completely lost in the aether. Signal is more featurefull than sms/mms imho.

My sister, her husband, and one of my friends use signal so there's that.

Ultimately I'd probably prefer everyone use matrix but it's not as accesible as signal.

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[-] boy@feddit.nl 15 points 2 years ago

Signal is great for communicating with people you don’t mind sharing your identity with. Would love to see signal implement usernames. I’m really into simpleX chat these days —really cool project.

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[-] obinice@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago

My problem with Signal is that nobody I know uses it, which unfortunately makes it useless.

Other than that, I genuinely think it's pretty great. But you'll have to persuade people to leave Facebook and WhatsApp en masse before it becomes ubiquitous enough to be useful.

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[-] Art3sian@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Question: in 2019 Australia passed an encryption law that requires every piece of software used in Australia to have a back door for law enforcement to access to ‘counter terrorism’, wank, wank.

Does Signal have back door access in Australia?

[-] Sharp312@lemmy.one 19 points 2 years ago

Simply put, no. The signal protocol as well as the app is open source. Although I imagine signal would not be on the Australian app store for lack of compliance, which is why you can download the app directly from their website. WhatsApp actually uses the signal protocol, but they close sourced it so there's no way to tell if FB put a backdoor into it

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[-] sam@lemmy.ca 13 points 2 years ago

I got rid of Signal after they added cryptocurrency to their app.

While I have no issues with cryptocurrency itself, it was a reminder that they have full control over the app. Now I happily use XMPP and Matrix for communication with friends and family.

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[-] morain@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago

I use signal on my phone and laptop but a while back they stopped supporting tablet versions. Wish they would bring that back.

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[-] Bad_And_Wrong@kbin.social 13 points 2 years ago

I heard its used by media people to contact each other or their sources which is a little convincing.

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[-] TPMJB@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago

I've been using Telegram primarily and it's nice being able to logon to any device and have my chat history, but it doesn't seem secure at all. I imagine the NSA has direct access to it.

[-] Miimikko@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago

Isn't Telegram developed by russians?

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[-] Candybar121@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago

This smells like a paid advertisement.

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this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2023
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