Trust me, I push Signal hard and even donate to it monthly. As I’m sure many of you know, there are always a few contacts who unfortunately refuse to use it.
In this case: do you prefer to use insecure SMS in something like QUIK SMS or Fossify Messages, or do you prefer to bite the Google bullet to get end-to-end encrypted messages (even if the metadata isn’t encrypted)?
I can see good arguments for both sides, so I am curious what Lemmy’s take is.
Neither.
SMS/texting is so fucking outdated. Why are ya’ll still attached to that stuff?
It comes with every phone and is the lowest common denominator.
So I can ask a recipient what messaging-app-de-jour they are using, and then install said app , or I have to convince them to use MY messaging-app-de-jour and get them to install it. All this has to happen outside preferred channels of communication, because we haven’t yet figured out what shared methods we can communicate with.
Orrrrr I could just send them a SMS and know that even if they are using the shittiest, most locked down non-free piece of crap phone possible, their phone will go 'bing! ’ and they will receive my message.
Because it’s a universal communication standard. Quite literally every phone made in the last 30 years supports SMS. The hangup is the carrier. But pretty much every carrier, at least here in the USA, offers unlimited SMS.
Sounds like the usual “Because we have always done it that way and it works. I won’t just change!!!11 because some youngster found the next new fancy thingy”
Sarcasm aside, you really aren’t that far off. Unfortunately, we as enthusiasts don’t make the decisions - our own social networks (the concept, not the internet shitholes) do that for us. The vast majority of regular people don’t even realize you can use a different texting app, let alone a secure one that doesn’t rely on an insecure protocol (i.e. Signal). And then you have iPhone users who don’t realize that iMessage is a wholly separate thing from SMS. You can’t really expect those kinds of people to download 4 different messaging apps just to keep in contact with their peers.
Yes and no.
Yes I can expect that because outside of the US some already use WhatsApp and probably to some degree FB messenger. Threema, Signal are on the rise (I’ll exclude Telegram due to QAnon and several hard right to nazi-level groups happening there).
Keep in mind that I am talking about Germany here. But I am very sure it’s on a similar rate elsewhere as well.