Hi friends,

I’m new to Lemmy but I think I like where it is heading in general. I would like to ask, do you have any specific apps used for ?

As a community that seems more focused on decentralized platforms, I thought this could spike up an interesting discussion

I have been using mainly Viber and FB messenger. I did try to convince friends and family to move over to simpleXchat, as it seems the most privacy focused alternative I have found, but basically failed.

I would love to hear your input!

The most secure app I know is SimpleX. It is like Matrix but without an identifier, so you really interacting only with people you want. No one can reach you unless you gave him a link to connect to you.

Two different people cannot be ensured they are talking to the same person since there is no identifier they can compare to.

jonuno
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32Y

Waiting on SimpleX to have desktop client and sync to migrate from Signal. Meanwhile Molly and all the major platforms sadly

Arcaneslime
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22Y

XMPP (with omemeo) is the classic (and also what FB messenger uses behind the scenes, without omemo), Matrix is the new kid on the block taking over. Both are decentralized sorta like the fediverse (but separate from said fediverse.)

Used to use Signal, but they’re removing SMS support so everyone might as well switch to matrix. Wickr was bought by amazon (and they say they won’t ruin it, riiiight), so that’s out. Idk enough about briar or session, and telegram isn’t as secure as people seem to think.

Delta Chat is awesome encrypted/secure messaging via imap and thus compatible with anyone who has an email address.

Conversations is an excellent XMPP client.

Signal. I refuse to use whatsapp even though that’s what most people I know use.

mintiefresh
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12Y

I wish more people in my life would use Signal but I’ve given up on converting people from WhatsApp.

I pretty much just use everything. my messaging folder has Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, SMS, etc lol.

Jomn
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12Y

I mainly use Signal, but sometimes have to fall back to SMS for people that aren’t on Signal. I also have matrix accounts, but I never really use them since I don’t have anyone among my friends and family that uses matrix.

I tried to migrate friends and family to Signal a couple of years back. Only managed with 3 people :/.

Unfortunately here (Italy), WhatsApp is too much widespread as reach out method now. Especially for businesses, from restaurants to, say, the family doctor.

Signal is my go to. Some of my friends refuse to download it, so I just text them. I’ll use iMessage on iOS and Google Messages on Android. But if I can use Signal, I will

Pumpkin
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1
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2Y

I use SMS and Matrix. I’d love to see something like Briar become more popular, or maybe XMPP make a resurgence as it’s been a great federated chat protocol for a long while.

I would use Briar if it had an iOS app, i dont consider any messenger that is android-only a real option for my main messenger.

For your friends and family, Signal is probably the best. It’s simple to use and set up, unlike SimpleX which some might have trouble with. For people who refuse to switch, iMessage.

unfortunately it is whatsapp… Had everyone move to signal, but it didn’t last :(

Rain
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12Y

Elements (Matrix) as much as much as possible. I bridge a lot services through it. Though Signal would be the second most.

With bridges, it’s truly the one app to rule them all.

Whatsapp is the norm here so I begrudgingly use that. Wish more people were on Signal, Matrix or Telegram.

You can apparently bridge Whatsapp and Matrix. I have looked into it for a few evenings but got nothing running despite having some experience with self hosting stuff. It was a while ago though.

I use Signal kinda exclusively. Managed to migrate my friends and family away from WhatsApp a few years back (I am living in Europe).

It’s not perfect, but it is the best alternative for the masses.

How did you do it ? I cant get them to migrate.

ᗪᗩᗰᑎ
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02Y

The way I did it was getting rid of the apps I no longer wanted on my phone. This forced people to send text messages. If they try sending a good pic/video it would obviously fail. Their only option was usually something more difficult than just installing Signal. I don’t provide Whatsapp as an alternative. I did lose some contacts, but close friends/family will obviously opt for the better messaging experience compared to default SMS.

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