I have nothing against Signal. I just don’t have access to a phone number right now. I fully intend to use the Signal when I get a number. I know there is no silver bullet, no absolutes in the privacy world but I’m looking for any messengers that are generally considered to be private and secure on Android that I can try to convince my friends and family to use. I have a mid - low threat model, it’s just the thought of giving the Zuck anymore of my family’s data makes my skin crawl.
Signal is great, Element (matrix) is great, but I personally think SimpleX did a fantastic job so far, and I really want them to succeed.
SimpleX seems cool, never heard of it before (they have bad SEO, I think the name doesn’t help)
Only thing that keeps me from using it right now is the missing multi device support. But apparently, that is something the devs want to implement sometime.
Have to keep an eye on it, thanks!
While SimpleX is good for small groups, unfortunately it doesn’t really have desktop apps yet.
XMPP. It’s an old standard, there are servers you can get an account with or you can host your own. And with OMEMO encryption everything is end to end encrypted.
I do have something against signal! Phone number, removing SMS support, MobileCoin, lack of federation…
Sadly, my friends/family are sick of swapping and I’ve found element/session to be unreliable or overly complex, so I stick with Signal because it’s still much better than SMS.
You could try Session. It makes a session ID like this
. This can be used to contact people or for people to contact you. I’ve used it to talk to my SO a bunch of times.ive heard briar and session are good
Simplex, element(or most matrix compatible messengers) session, bchat. If the goal is to get your family to switch over though good luck.
Self host your own istance of Matrix
I guess Matrix would be your best option then. I use Schildichat as client, which is a fork of Element with some extras.
But if you can’t get a plan, why not get a prepaid burner SIM? You can buy a prepaid card for minimal amount and you generally keep the number at least for a year, and you put in 5~10 euro each year you can keep it active endlessly.
A lot of things require a phone number. Here, the goverment needs you to have one, but also most workplaces and even the DHL. Getting a cheap trow-away sim isn’t a bad option. Especially since pre-paid SIMs aren’t connected to your name like those on a plan are.
Try Conversations https://codeberg.org/iNPUTmice/Conversations
I have used Matrix; XMPP; Session and Jami. I like all of them but use Matrix the most as my wife prefers it and I message her the most. I have heard good things about Delta Chat but haven’t gotten around to trying it yet.
Session
Does anyone have any recommendations for Element chat groups to join? All I find when I DuckDuckGo it is recommended clients that use Matrix, coding stuff, or weird sounding mathematical principles. Any groups involving FOSS discussions or ttrpgs would be great!
Xonotic’s offtopic for geopolitics ;)
Jk, it’s a chat for the foss game on pc
Protonmail? Matrix?
Isn’t ProtonMail an email client? Correct me of I’m wrong. I do use Tutanota to subscribe to all my Newsletters. A few other people mentioned Matrix so I’ll check that out.
