Encrypted messaging recommendations.

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I got my family onto signal. The app is basic, but that is kinda a benefit when getting half-blind 90yo's onto it.

I switched from hangouts when they killed group calls by trying to be zoom.

No regrets, but group calls sometimes dont ring, which is annoying. Mostly good though.

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Signal for security standard and ease of use, which is essential if You want to use it with non techy person.

Simplex for anonymity, You can download it, share chat and start talking without registration.

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If you're going to bring your friends and family, then you need to make it easy for the lowest common denominator.

I'd recommend using Signal in that case.

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i use simplex with people i used sms with before, and matrix for everything else

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I don't use messengers with vendor lock-in. Therefore Matrix and XMPP see: https://www.messenger-matrix.de/messenger-matrix-en.html

Both self hosted on a Raspberry #freedombox https://freedombox.org/

Matrix has all the features like Slack and WhatsApp and XMPP Conversations: the very last word in instant messaging.

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No bridges are not end 2 end encrypted. The best you can do is host the server and bridge in your own home and thus have the bridge "end" in a secure location.

If your friends and family are not very technical, then Matrix is probably a bad idea as it tends to be quite in your face about all sorts of technical issues especially with the encryption keys and so on. It works ok usually once everything is set up though.

XMPP is IMHO the better option as the mobile apps are easier to understand and the e2ee usually works out of the box and stays out of the way unless you specifically want to mess around with it. For a friends & family server I recommend setting up https://snikket.org/ or rent a server from them cheaply.

There are also good bridges for XMPP, but setting them up requires more understanding of self-hosting.

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I will second the others that only suggest Signal or a variant of Signal like Langis or Molly. Everybody has each other's phone numbers, go with Signal so people don't need any other contact information.

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Personally I'd go with Signal. Matrix has a certain jank level IME, for example rooms can get desynced between homeservers and the only way to fix is to create a new room and abandon the old one. Not sure how often that happens for small scale use though, I've only seen it in large rooms.

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Signal.

It's changed a lot. For the better.

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If no one's on any kind of private messaging platform, SimpleX is good and fairly easy to use. But I mostly use Signal just because everyone's on it.

Also consider your threat model; Signal is appropriate for just casual personal conversations, but it is centralised and not self-hostable. The servers are run by the Signal org who are based in the US. If the potential of message metadata (which can be used to eg create networks of who's messaging who) getting into the hands of the US state could create significant issues for you, you may want to at least find either a decentralised or self-hostable solution which is not so US-centric. I assume, though, since you're talking to these people on non-private platforms, that these are not super sensitive discussions anyway.

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Contains proprietary code. I recommend Molly-FOSS instead.

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People will dislike this:

The most basic one with little barrier to entry is imessage. Theres a good chance your friends and family already have it and with a few setting changes (no sms fallback, set icloud recovery key, probably some stuff I forgot) you’re damn near at parity with signal.

All without dad having to download a new app onto his phone and make a new identity!

Of course you’ll need signal or something for people who don’t use it.

I use that combination and it’s excellent. If you can be on imessage with someone you’re good and everything works, if not you do signal.

There will be people you gotta use sms with. They just won’t be able or willing to do something new. Sometimes there’s an equipment problem, their super old provider version of android can’t get an app you both agree on. Sometimes they’re using a Nokia.

Interacting with sms often may help keep you on your toes about it. I know I’m more careful over text now.

That combination, imessage and signal, also has a benefit of reducing the chances that you’ll broadcast an awareness of and desire for privacy and security to the whole world all the time.

In the us, there’s a 50% chance you just look like a normal person and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

Make sure it meets your needs of course

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If you're on Android, as well, look into BlueBubbles. It bridges iMessage from a MacOS system to most any device/OS. I've used it for years now with my partner's family with very little issue (all of which were resolved with a restart).

Hard part is getting a MacOS system. I started with a VM, but eventually landed on a ~$100 Mac Mini 2014. Both solutions worked well, but the former is against Apple's TOS and requires spoofing things, so it's ultimately much less reliable than actual hardware.

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I second xmpp + omemo, and would caution that as far as I can remember matrix leaks significant metadata when syncing between instances/services.

As a personal decision I got away from signal (molly in fact) more than a year ago.

I'm also keep jami working with my family, particularly for things not requiring immediate response. It's a different beast, since it's p2p, but there's no server associated to it, no matter if decentralized or not. It's easy as well, just not as responsive, in particular if looking for immediate responses... I like and keep both, hoping jami improves.

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That’s awesome! I didn’t know there was an option for android users.

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little barrier to entry

$1000+

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I got my mother on XMPP - if you set the person's account up, Conversations is as easy to use as Whatsapp or Signal, but doesn't have the central server dependence.

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The barrier to entry was intended to refer to others since it’s already installed on over half their phones to start with and most people are gonna be using a messaging program on their phone.

When there’s above a 50% chance the person you’re talking to is already using a particular encrypted messaging program that’s the lowest barrier to entry.

The barrier to entry always refers to other people because the hardest part of establishing private communications has always been convincing other people to actually do it.

If you really wanted to get on imessage for the least amount of cash out of pocket possible, the bluebubble bridge application random letters person mentioned is ~$100 for an old mac, and tbh that’s a high estimate in my experience. People are just giving those things away nowadays.

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Simplex for anonymity, You can download it, share chat and start talking without registration.

It ate my battery when I installed it. Do you use it on a daily basis? What's your experience with its battery consumption?

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But most people would be excluded because they don't have an iPhone or even funds to buy one! And would have no real way to participate! Maybe some older secondhand models would go below $300, I don't know, but it would be weird to expect a person to buy a second phone (and an older, more worn-down one at that) just to converse with you. Even $100 is also a pretty high price just to bypass an arbitrary restriction.

There is a reason the most popular messengers are cross-platform. So the aim must be that.

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Encrypted messaging recommendations.