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.
Signal.
Signal is not available for Android tablets, which was a deal breaker when I tried to move my family off Telegram.
What do you mean? Modern Android apps work on all kinds of devices. Maybe the Android version on the tablet is too old?
Tablets can’t run mobile apps?
Signal needs a phone number
which does not need to be in the tablet
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.
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.
Most matrix clients just collect loads of data, so meh
All of those are worse
Worse than what? Fully featured chat, E2EE, can be self-hosted and federated. They have it all.
Signal
So easy to setup my tech illiterate parents could do it.
Now try without a phone number. Go ahead. Try
You can’t
That’s not the point though
I think the intent is baby steps for those who aren’t already privacy invested. Getting parents or tech illiterate to switch to Signal is a win. They weren’t hiding their number anyway.
I currently have a Signal account tied to a sim not in my name. Getting a burner with cash is an option then park it. Or, if you’re lucky enough to live near a payphone and can gain access to the number, you can activate a signal with a phone call.
Have you ever used Wire?
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
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.
And the post is about telegram alternative?
Try Nostr, I dunno. Or VKontakte if you want the Telegram functionality of sending transcripts of your communications to FSB.
Ok conspiracy theorist signal fan
You should learn something about things you use before talking about conspiracy theories.
Signal?
edit / wait - an alternative for telegram as a note taking app??
Friends used telegram so I had the app installed. It was easier to store documents in telegram than in one drive or proton drive, so telegram became my go too. Obviously not the best setup, but it worked and was easy. I’ll try out Signal and Matrix, but continence is a big factor in my choice.
Proton drive has free tier. Not sure if it is as easy as tele for doc storage but holy-shit tele really doing it.
People rave about it.
There’s a note to self feature in Signal
there are decent note apps, like notally, that are smaller than 2mb 🤷
https://f-droid.org/packages/com.kin.easynotes/ 3mb
https://f-droid.org/packages/io.github.quillpad/ 4.6 and it can sync
https://f-droid.org/packages/org.fossify.notes/ 8.9
and than there’s joplin
Standard Notes is my go to for notes 100%. It’s all about privacy through encryption and is FOSS. Plus for this specific scenario, it also allows for notes export.
I don’t disagree, but taking notes in Signal gets you syncing automatically which is convenient and something OP asked for 🤷
And you’ll have fewer apps installed on your phone, which is something I’ve come to value lately.
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.
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 cotizens.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Can you provide names of these clients you’re mentioning?
Python: Gajim Doesn’t support Windows: Dino Outdated: PSI+
Dino is nice in GNOME as it’s native Gtk which gets you a nicely integrated and modern look and feel. It’s a little low on feature but fully usable.
most of the Open Source projects on IRC also moved to Matrix.
No, they moved to libera.chat
Well signal also has the note to self.
People will hate this, but WhatsApp is probably the second best and convenient to most people. (But if your friends are willing to get signal, do it.) In fact it was always better than telegram, there I said it.
Also there’s many great note taking apps that have a sync feature. Joplin for one.
I know that habit of using messenger app for notes :) Try [matrix] using Element or SchildiChat. It’s e2eencrypted and federated, and even supports markdown formatting in messages. Also some Slack features are included. The only issue for non-techy person might be verifying sessions - just be sure to use the same client on all devices.
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).
To be clear, this is a feature, not a bug
This is true.
signal is the simplest alternative, it’s actually better than telegram since it doesn’t save data
I think for your use case Signal could be a good alternative, don’t listen to what people say, I would rather encourage you doing ylur own research on Signal and other recommendations you might gonna consider.
Sorry for a bit of off-topic, but for a note taking app I suggest checking out Amplenote (there is a free plan for browser and mobile apps). I discovered it recently and it’s quite a life changer for me. Proper tag system for notes is a killer feature.
Telegram as a note taking app?.. Now that’s one I haven’t heard before
You’d be surprised what people have been doing with Telegram’s ‘unlimited storage’.
Must be why France wanted Durov.
A gmail strat
I just have some syncthing shared folders with friends/family. It may be a little weird to set up, but once there, it’s seamless.
Maybe Joplin…
YMMV, but my minimum requirements were:
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Federated just like lemmy or mastodon or email, so I can choose a server or even selfhost.
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First class clients for Linux available, not only Android/iOS, no Electron bloatware.
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No phone number involved.
That rules out Signal, Whatsapp and some more. Matrix fits. However I prefer #Jabber a.k.a. #XMPP. Matter of taste, I guess 🤷
PS: “Note to yourself”, incl. file upload, is supported by all servers and most clients, AFAIK.
@debacle @TheDorkfromYork I’m still waiting for #gajim 1.9 to be available under #archlinux … (I don’t want to install the flatpak). Yes #xmpp is the way and #quicksy help me convert some people.
Snikket seems nice as well.
Jabber and XMPP aren’t really alternatives as they are just protocols. They don’t have a stable feature set and aren’t necessarily encrypted by default.
The #Jabber feature sets are defined in the compliance suite, e.g. here:
“XEP-0479: #XMPP Compliance Suites 2023”
https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0479.html#im
Many Jabber clients do end-to-end encryption by default. I would not care too much in the age of #surveillance directly at the source, i.e. on the device 🤷
If you want an even more coherent feature set and also be sure, all your clients encrypt by default, your best bet is #Snikket by @snikket_im. Highly recommended!
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