I don’t use Telegram but they don’t enable encryption by default? Last time I used Telegram I needed a phone number still, so, I’d say Signal has always been on top.
they don’t enable encryption by default?
Indeed, only secret chats use it, that’s it’s biggest drawback.
Last time I used Telegram I needed a phone number still
Yes, for registering purposes. However, you can set up your own username and give that to whoever you want instead. You can even restrict some or all people from seeing your actual number.
Signal is finally delivering the stuff we have all been waiting for. First, they implemented post quantum cryptography in the protocol in September, then we got message editing, and now we will finally get usernames. Awesome!
Annoyingly, this doesn’t mean that you can register without a phone number. I hope that this is only the first step towards making that happen and not some sort of compromise of the original goal.
I still use Signal because I think it’s still the best tool so far (that has people I know using it), but I’m always iffy about services using phone numbers as their primary identifier.
The people communicating with each other need a way to ensure that they are communicating with who they think they are; and for most people, they are trying to hide what they are discussing, not necessarily who they are discussing it with.
When I first got into open source I downloaded every app I saw that could make me feel like a spy, but I quickly deleted 90% of them because I had no use cases for them. I did find an app I believe based off the signal protocol which had no names or numbers and the only way to initiate contact between two people was by scanning each others qr code, but good luck ever meeting somebody to download the app.
It’s been hard enough convincing anybody over signal. Americans are pretty locked into SMS and everybody else seems unwilling to leave WhatsApp.
The world would be a substantially better place if Signal would 1) Not require phone numbers, and 2) Allow 3rd-party clients. While they’re at it maybe they could also add a volume control to the desktop client and then not push so many damn updates.
Spectacular!
