Signal is to privacy what duct tape is to a broken item - it solves your issues and concerns, but you shouldn't expect it to last. Instead, consider Matrix.
Yeah signal is good, but the thing I dislike about it is that its centralized and you don’t actually have the option to run your own server. Maybe one of the forks of session like session is a good alternative. But I feel like Signal is the best alternative to things like Whatsapp and Facebook messenger and it is arguably a lot more user friendly that matrix and XMPP.
Compared to the Conversations XMPP client the main “advantage” of Signal in regards to user friendliness is basically that people got used to using their phone numbers for messengers. But that is a bit like printing you phone number on your t-shirt and claiming that is is easier for people to contact you that way…
Also there is Quicksy.im which is Conversations but with a phone-number… if you really want to remove your privacy like that.
You can run your own Session server, if you stake it. But Session is about relaying messages, so its not an exclusive server. And because a node is staked, I’m skeptical where Lokinet/Oxen is going (sounds like there’s eventually going to be a business model somewhere in there).
I think the future needs to go towards something serverless. P2P has its drawbacks (offline messages and battery usage). Server based communication has dependence on someone else’s infrastructure. Blockchain might be a solution, combined with either something like Signal Secret Sender, Whisper, or Tor/Lokinet/I2P/relay. Not sure…but I believe it can be a lot better than what we have.
Matrix and XMPP is just not streamlined enough for mass adoption like Signal is. If Signal removes the phone number requirement, that will be HUGE. But keep in mind, Signal could easily be blocked.
Yeah signal is good, but the thing I dislike about it is that its centralized and you don’t actually have the option to run your own server. Maybe one of the forks of session like session is a good alternative. But I feel like Signal is the best alternative to things like Whatsapp and Facebook messenger and it is arguably a lot more user friendly that matrix and XMPP.
Compared to the Conversations XMPP client the main “advantage” of Signal in regards to user friendliness is basically that people got used to using their phone numbers for messengers. But that is a bit like printing you phone number on your t-shirt and claiming that is is easier for people to contact you that way…
Also there is Quicksy.im which is Conversations but with a phone-number… if you really want to remove your privacy like that.
Conversations is indeed a far better alternative here…
You can run your own Session server, if you stake it. But Session is about relaying messages, so its not an exclusive server. And because a node is staked, I’m skeptical where Lokinet/Oxen is going (sounds like there’s eventually going to be a business model somewhere in there).
I think the future needs to go towards something serverless. P2P has its drawbacks (offline messages and battery usage). Server based communication has dependence on someone else’s infrastructure. Blockchain might be a solution, combined with either something like Signal Secret Sender, Whisper, or Tor/Lokinet/I2P/relay. Not sure…but I believe it can be a lot better than what we have.
Matrix and XMPP is just not streamlined enough for mass adoption like Signal is. If Signal removes the phone number requirement, that will be HUGE. But keep in mind, Signal could easily be blocked.
I think the ability to run your own server could be added in the future, if they want that. The beauty about software is that most stuff can be fixed.