Encrypted messaging recommendations.
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Signal.
It's changed a lot. For the better.
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Contains proprietary code. I recommend Molly-FOSS instead.
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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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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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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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Signal is the easiest with true end to end encryption with keys stored on the endpoints only.
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Sadly, I have no one to use with it, so I don't know about battery usage. I just like, that it doesn't require any external identifiers, unlike Signal.
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Sixty percent still leaves about a half excluded and left without a cheap and conveniwnt way to participate. You think it is fair in any way?
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As I said, use signal for everything else.
If immediately getting sixty percent of your chats encrypted isn’t worth a hundred bucks to you I don’t know what to say. We’re looking at this from fundamentally different perspectives. I’m trying to meet a goal to solve a problem and you’re trying to find the fair solution.
It’s good to try to find the fair solution.
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signal or SimpleX.
I'm starting to move away from Matrix, primarily because its metadata is not encrypted. So you might have a message that's encrypted, but the emoji reaction like a thumbs up is not encrypted, and the time it was sent and received is not encrypted, and who it was sent from and to is not encrypted.
Not to mention that in Matrix, private key management for encryption in rooms and stuff like that is quite frankly a pain in the ass. Even I as a cryptocurrency user have trouble making sure that my keys are properly stored without fucking them up.
I would not recommend my friends or family members use it for these reasons.
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I'm in one room with 1,500 people and it uses about 7% of my battery. Mind you, that is a lot for a messenger. But I can deal with that.
