My niece has an old iphone with no SIM/phone number. Only wifi internet access.

Looking for an app for both of us to be able to chat

She cant chat with me over signal because no phonee number. She chats with the rest of the family over imessage, but i have an android phone

Is there an app available for both android and iphone to let me chat with her?

Thanks

Edit: willing to self-host for extra privacy. My nieces and nephews are all young children so i definitely want to encourage/educate them to get off corporate controlled communications channels

  • 9488fcea02a9OP
    13·
    9 months ago

    why are you trying to privately communicate with a minor?

    Uhm… Because my niece asked me yesterday if she could message me on her phone.

    When i say “private” i mean not hosted/harvested by facebook or google or whatever.

    My brother has full acess to the device and can read our messages. Also, he is well aware that she is messaging her aunts and uncles

    I don’t want to assume the worst

    Proceeds to assume the absolute worst

    • Possibly linux@lemmy.zipEnglish
      112·
      9 months ago

      Child abuse is a serious issue in the US. I always try to encourage good practices. I didn’t mean to accuse you of doing something unethical

      I would still encourage getting the parents to join the same chat just for liability reason. If the child’s parent is in the group chat the risks go way down.

      You can create a new group chat in Simplex Chat and then you can turn off disappearing messages and add the child and the parent.

        • Possibly linux@lemmy.zipEnglish
          11·
          9 months ago

          Abuse almost always comes from a person who is trusted by the family. Often they are a close friend.

          Trust but verify