this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2024
2 points (100.0% liked)

Privacy

32456 readers
558 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I tried SimpleX but the VPN kill switch on my phone prevents syncing with my computer.

I use telegram primarily as a note taking app with sync features.

Occasionally I send files to friends, so having easy set up for tech illiterate would be great.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Signal can't do shit Canit sync messages b/w devices seamlessly? Doe it have unlimited storage? Channels? Isn't upload size limit 100mb? Telegram has 4gb. Advance Bots? Good Ui/Ux? High quality stickers? Big public groups? Mini apps? Lol, signal is NOT an alternative to telegram as a whole, it can only partly replace its messaging functionality

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Signal is private. This is c/privacy.

Telegram is not private at all, but has channels and big groups and even, yes, mini-apps.

So Telegram is not an alternative to Signal either, it doesn't even start solving problems that are solved genially in Signal.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

And the post is about telegram alternative?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Try Nostr, I dunno. Or VKontakte if you want the Telegram functionality of sending transcripts of your communications to FSB.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Ok conspiracy theorist signal fan

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

You should learn something about things you use before talking about conspiracy theories.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

So easy to setup my tech illiterate parents could do it.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

signal is the simplest alternative, it's actually better than telegram since it doesn't save data

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Signal?

edit / wait - an alternative for telegram as a note taking app??

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

There's a note to self feature in Signal

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

I don't disagree, but taking notes in Signal gets you syncing automatically which is convenient and something OP asked for 🤷

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (3 children)

I think Matrix is the way to go because you can host your own server and be completely self hosting without a 3rd party involved.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

To add to this, XMPP is much cheaper to host and offers basically the same features when it comes to what OP needs. I host Prosody and it uses so little resources you could probably get it running on the cheapest server you could find.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (2 children)

It's probably 15 years ago I used XMPP the last time. Back then there were many compatibility problems between the apps and especially on the mobile phone with push notifications, etc. There were problems sending media and VOIP calls were non existent outside of the Google clients.

My guess is that some of those things improved but I have not heard anyone in my circles using it, especially since Matrix became a bit more popular, most of the Open Source projects on IRC also moved to Matrix.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, XMPP has changed a loooott since then.

XMPP's main problems at the moment are clients, in my opinion. There's 3 main clients for PC; one is 100% python (including frontend) and breaks semi-regularly, one does not officially support Windows and thus cuts out a large portion of the community + doesn't have as many features as others, and one lacks features and looks extremely outdated. The state on iOS is even worse as well, and Android is fine but could be better.

If you're considering XMPP again, I'd recommend waiting a few months for Prose https://prose.org/ to fully release, it looks like it'll improve the experience a lot.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

most of the Open Source projects on IRC also moved to Matrix.

No, they moved to libera.chat

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

yeah, it's "a considerable amount", not "the most"

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

From a security standpoint it leaves something to be desired but for just notes it is fine. It also is good for public rooms

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I've gone this route. Not for the faint of heart. If you're not self-hosting savvy, but you know someone that hosts a server, absolutely sign up with them. Or use a local public server like pikaviestin.fi, which provides accounts for finnish citizens.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

This. I‘m hosting a couple matrix servers and have many friends who have a ton of issues. It really depends on the admin and how tech savvy everyone involved is. If you cant be arsed to understand how key sharing works and check out which is the best client for you, matrix might bot be the best choice. I love it, personally but I suggest it rarely since tech illiterate users tend to get really upset about a free product not matching their insane standards.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Unfortunately the Signal recommended by many people may not work for you, it cannot work on multiple mobile devices at the same time, for example on a smartphone and tablet.

I don't understand why no one recommends Jami? It's the only messenger that works without a server at all. And yes, it has the ability to forward messages to itself (to use as a note) and works on any devices at the same time.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

I would describe Jami as "not good"

For starters they lack a security audit and review. It is a huge code base and no one seems to have looked to close.

Next it doesn't work reliably. Messages frequently get lost in the network and will never arrive.

The nail in the coffin is the broken UI and app instability.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I am using Signal on two android phones, one android tablet and a linux PC. What do you mean it cannot work on multiple devices?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

You have to manually switch.

Not the same.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It works on up to 5 devices at the same time. I’ve used signal on my phone, with it also open on my computer with zero problems. Syncing is instantaneous.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Open Signal rewiews on GooglePlay, there's every third review about this situation. I forgot to mention, i'm talking about the Android version. The ios version works on ipad at the same time

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

There are lots of options. Why are you using a chat app for note taking?

Couldn't you just get a markdown note app that syncs with something like syncthing?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

I don't know their exact use case, but I use it a lot to save links. They can be saved very quick to the saved messages "chat".

However, recently I got a new phone and now the Matrix client is also opening quickly, instead of taking 10+ seconds, so I'll switch to sending them to a private room with me being the only participant.
But! I think Markor (from F-droid) also allows sharing arbitrary text to a file, so that could work too. A chat app may be better, though, because it records exact timestamps, and always records linksas a distinct message, so it may be more suitable for your own automated processing later.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

If I want to share something with a friend, I can invite them to note chats or bulk forward files. Messages are separate, I can forward individual message rather than all messages. It's more continent than notes apps I've tried.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (3 children)

I was a Signal defender (although I still use it because it's better than Telegram or WhatsApp) but now I'm more pushing for DeltaChat, Matrix and XMPP.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Most matrix clients just collect loads of data, so meh

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

well if you accept it at the setup, then yeah, it does

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Signal is not available for Android tablets, which was a deal breaker when I tried to move my family off Telegram.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Tablets can't run mobile apps?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Signal needs a phone number

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

which does not need to be in the tablet

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

It does. The Signal app for Android does not support being a secondary device. It must be the primary device with a phone number.

In addition, whatever Play Store settings they use excluded all of our tablets, even the one that had a SIM. Manually installing the APK worked for this case, but that didn't really solve our problem.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

It does. The Signal app for Android does not support being a secondary device. It must be the primary device with a phone number.

do you mean that it does not have a prompt for the SMS code anymore, and it reads the code only from the received SMS?

In addition, whatever Play Store settings they use excluded all of our tablets, even the one that had a SIM

that's a weird choice, I thought a main goal of them was user freedom

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It is in fact available for tablets

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

And and device running Android

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Just a heads up about people’s suggestions on signal. If you don’t open your desktop client often and it needs to be logged back in it will not sync your latest notes to self messages (perhaps other messages too).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

To be clear, this is a feature, not a bug

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

This is true.

load more comments
view more: next ›