I do, use Signal if you care about privacy. They are the only game in town when it comes to reasonably secure chat software. Sure, I would prefer a federated alternative but I haven’t found one yet that is always end-to-end encrypted, open source, implements forward secrecy, and is user friendly enough to be used by my grandmother.
SimpleX is cool, but fails the “my grandmother can use it” requirement. Signal has the huge benefit that is just as easy as WhatsApp. With Simplex you have to invite each of your friends individually.
With Signal you just have to install the App and make an account to start chatting with your friends and family. SimpleX requires me to send a link or QR code to everybody I want to interact with. You will have a hard time convincing anyone to do that. Compare that to the first Twitter exodus, people chose Bluesky over Mastodon because picking a server was ‘difficult’. The average person doesn’t care about technology at all and will always pick the path of least resistance.
True which is why WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Telegram still reign supreme. Don’t forget that its a minute for each person I want to contact, why bother if I already have the phone number of everybody I know. SimpleX targets a different market than the previously mentioned Messengers, and that’s OK, but it also means its a no-go for anyone outside that market. Signal on the other hand is targeting the same market and thus is a viable alternative and for that reason I could convince my friends and family including my grandmother to use it instead.
You do not have a solution.
I do, use Signal if you care about privacy. They are the only game in town when it comes to reasonably secure chat software. Sure, I would prefer a federated alternative but I haven’t found one yet that is always end-to-end encrypted, open source, implements forward secrecy, and is user friendly enough to be used by my grandmother.
SimpleX is better, you don’t even need a phone number.
SimpleX is cool, but fails the “my grandmother can use it” requirement. Signal has the huge benefit that is just as easy as WhatsApp. With Simplex you have to invite each of your friends individually.
Scan a QR isn’t difficult, there are also tantum links
With Signal you just have to install the App and make an account to start chatting with your friends and family. SimpleX requires me to send a link or QR code to everybody I want to interact with. You will have a hard time convincing anyone to do that. Compare that to the first Twitter exodus, people chose Bluesky over Mastodon because picking a server was ‘difficult’. The average person doesn’t care about technology at all and will always pick the path of least resistance.
It require literally a minute, also creating an account isn’t a thing people like to do.
True which is why WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Telegram still reign supreme. Don’t forget that its a minute for each person I want to contact, why bother if I already have the phone number of everybody I know. SimpleX targets a different market than the previously mentioned Messengers, and that’s OK, but it also means its a no-go for anyone outside that market. Signal on the other hand is targeting the same market and thus is a viable alternative and for that reason I could convince my friends and family including my grandmother to use it instead.
Also creating accounts require a minute or more.
Thanks