- cross-posted to:
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- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
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Signal is finally delivering the stuff we have all been waiting for. First, they implemented post quantum cryptography in the protocol in September, then we got message editing, and now we will finally get usernames. Awesome!
The world would be a substantially better place if Signal would 1) Not require phone numbers, and 2) Allow 3rd-party clients. While they’re at it maybe they could also add a volume control to the desktop client and then not push so many damn updates.
I haven’t had a single complaint in my few months if using it.
That being said, I have 3 people to use it with so on average have only gotten about 20 minutes per week.
I will say that the WiFi calling on their app is far superior to the samsung’s drag down buttons.
Can we please just have an app for our Android tablets?
Try Molly.
Dug pushers everywhere man.
Annoyingly, this doesn’t mean that you can register without a phone number. I hope that this is only the first step towards making that happen and not some sort of compromise of the original goal.
I still use Signal because I think it’s still the best tool so far (that has people I know using it), but I’m always iffy about services using phone numbers as their primary identifier.
The people communicating with each other need a way to ensure that they are communicating with who they think they are; and for most people, they are trying to hide what they are discussing, not necessarily who they are discussing it with.
When I first got into open source I downloaded every app I saw that could make me feel like a spy, but I quickly deleted 90% of them because I had no use cases for them. I did find an app I believe based off the signal protocol which had no names or numbers and the only way to initiate contact between two people was by scanning each others qr code, but good luck ever meeting somebody to download the app.
It’s been hard enough convincing anybody over signal. Americans are pretty locked into SMS and everybody else seems unwilling to leave WhatsApp.
I will never use Signal if it keeps asking for my phone number. I have backed out at that point every time I’ve gone to use it because I forgot about that requirement.
Finally
This is how Signal should have been designed in the first place.
Without phone-number based contact finding signal wouldn’t be relevant enough to matter.
Security and privacy be damned.
IRC, AIM, and BBM did ok without it. We humans like talking to each other. We figure it out.
Those were before the smartphone era.
Humans like to talk to each other, but when an easier choice exist the slightly harder one doesn’t stand a chance.
None of those are relevant today, phone numbers still are.
Arent these 3 pretty irrelevant now(in the general population)? That doesn’t show a good track record.
So it’s instant messaging with encryption?
*Yawn!* Wake me up when they stop requiring phone numbers to sign up.
I will spam every contact I have with this information, it’s time to people to start making the switch
Spectacular!
Wow this is great news. Glad to see them do this.
@ijeff Finally, they are on par with Telegram here as well.
I don’t use Telegram but they don’t enable encryption by default? Last time I used Telegram I needed a phone number still, so, I’d say Signal has always been on top.
they don’t enable encryption by default?
Indeed, only secret chats use it, that’s it’s biggest drawback.
Last time I used Telegram I needed a phone number still
Yes, for registering purposes. However, you can set up your own username and give that to whoever you want instead. You can even restrict some or all people from seeing your actual number.
