Telegram is just actually superior in terms of features I don’t get it.

111 points
*

Why do not more people choose a matrix server and use a decentralized way of communication instead of committing themselves to this or that app/company?

Because most people they know use WhatsApp/Facebook/Instagram.

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4 points

If I were clever enough to host my own matrix server I would in a heartbeat. Bridges to WhatsApp, insta, fb, etc. are game changers.

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6 points

I found a server in the list I posted that was hosted by people in my area and funded by donations. I got in touch with them and they even implemented some bridges with that server. Now I am using it with a WhatsApp bridge, feels pretty seamless.

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3 points

I’m not sure but I’m going to take a look. Thanks

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1 point
Deleted by creator
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-3 points

Lol I’ve tried matrix before. It’s really bad. And it’s more of a IRC/discord alternative than instant messaging apps.

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7 points

Not sure when you tried it or with which app but you can use it just like an instant messenger. It can do more like discord but this can easily very ignored.

I have heard that once it was a pain to use as a client but since I started using it half a year ago it felt pretty smooth.

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102 points

I think you mean Signal.

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6 points

Currently using signal but have been intrigued by some of the no phone number alternatives like SimpleX

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3 points

Nope! Telegram because you know what they say in cryptography circles: always roll your own! Oh wait…

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-23 points

I mean telegram

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23 points
*

Makes a post about messaging superiority by advocating for inferior app. Lol. Gotta read the room better buddy.

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14 points
*

Why are you taking such a confrontational approach?

Original commenter and you give no information on what makes Signal better. Signal is outside of the topic scope anyway, but would be a fair extension of it. Instead you use an insulting tone and completely dismiss their approach.

And this shit gets more up than downvotes. Makes it clear this platform has group-think toxicity issues too, moreso than promoting fair and good-intention discussion.

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-7 points

In regards to Whatsapp. If I were talking about signal vs telegram then this comment would be relevant but I’m not am i

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4 points

Pretty much one of the last messaging platforms I’d try to use.

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-9 points

Wooosh

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2 points

Bring that back over to reddit.

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-14 points

Brotha it wasn’t a joke

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88 points

Why does anyone choose Telegram or WhatsApp over Signal which is encrypted and audited? (Probably features I don’t care about, but they do)

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19 points

Telegram let’s you send 2gb files, and stores them forever. Signal has a 100mb limit.

It also used to be easier to set up on multiple devices at the same time, but I believe that Whatsapp and Signal have improved that by now too.

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20 points

I’m not sure the file limitations are much of a factor when 100mb covers most files that would need to be sent through a messaging service. There are plenty of dedicated services for sharing larger files.

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5 points

I mentioned it because it was an annoying limitation for me. 100mb is not a lot for media and zip files nowadays. And I don’t know any good free services that will work more conveniently than simply sending with Telegram, suggestions welcome.

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2 points

Piracy tho. I can go to my telegram, search a movie title and click play and it just works.

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1 point

That’s the point tho, it negates the need for dedicated services for sharing larger files

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3 points

Why switch platforms if all your data is still being collected? This just provides another business with your data to sell and possibly have hacked. Sure, Telegram offers encryption, but it’s not enabled by default even though they advertise it thoroughly. This demonstrates they’re taking advantage of peoples desire for privacy simply to increase their user base while making the users + contacts do all the work.

As far as file sharing, with ProtonDrive I can use any messaging service and send a 500GB file if I wanted, fully encrypted with password protection and an expiration date. Telegram keeping the files forever doesn’t seem like a benefit either.

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8 points

Signal is based in the US. Better to use something that is not based in the.US.

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2 points

As long as your messages are end-to-end encrypted, I don’t know why you would care about that. It’s proven that they do not collect any metadata that could harm your privacy and most of their stuff is open source. The signal protocol is a pretty solid protocol supporting E2EE. There are not even cloud backup options, so your messages can never be read from someone other than you and the receiver, unlike something like iMessage that has cloud backup option that backups your messages stored locally on your device probably in plain text to iCloud.

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-1 points

It takes just one FISA court order to compromise Signal.

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3 points

I’ve been using Signal for a long time now, it was great until they ended SMS text support, then they started trying to turn Signal into a social media thing, I just want end to end encryption without having to worry about somebody like Zuckerberg having access to my texts.

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5 points
*
Deleted by creator
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2 points

Right?

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1 point

I agree that signal is superior in terms of privacy but a lot of people don’t care about that. And most people using WhatsApp DEFINITELY don’t care about that.

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6 points

This undermines your whole original post.

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1 point

Oh so we should only care about good and secure design when end users care about it!

Because you clearly can’t read the room that was sarcasm.

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2 points

I never said you shouldn’t care though??

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1 point

WhatsApp uses the same encryption schema as signal.

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Was going to post this :3

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1 point

does signal have multi device synchronization? on telegram you can start to write a message on one device and continue on another.

one of the feature i use most on telegram is saved messages to send stuff between phone and pc.

this is pretty much the only thing that is keeping me on telegram.

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73 points

I don’t understand the love for Telegram.

In the short period of using it I had so much BS come through by scammers/spammers - both as DMs and group messages. I’ve rarely had that with WhatsApp.

In my eyes WhatsApp is far better than Telegram. And Signal is far greater than WhatsApp. The only thing I wish Signal had was inbuilt GIFs; it’s not that much of an issue on mobile but it’s a pain on desktop.

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11 points

Telegram is awful with spam. I’m constantly getting sent links to Telegram groups for Russian porn models who all pretend to be underage and spamming their Boosty links. I feel like it’s probably part of some scam to bait people into buying something illegal and then blackmail them later. I don’t keep it installed anymore because I don’t need that sort of incriminating shit on my devices.

I’d delete my account, but I have a couple people who only use Telegram, but I’m getting close to cutting them off over it unless they switch to something else. I’ve reported this to Telegram numerous times, but these accounts keep popping up and keep managing to reach me.

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5 points

Just change your privacy settings then.

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1 point

It’s either something about your phone number or your username. I’ve never had a problem on there

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11 points

Telegram is more user friendly than Whatsapp, it’s clients are open source and has a decent desktop app.

It’s way better than Zuck’s trash.

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2 points

No E2EE by default though

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7 points

I’ve had way more scam calls, groups and texts on whatsapp than on Telegram.

So I definitely don’t understand why anyone would like whatsapp.

With Telegram you can easily limit any communication requests to only come from your list of contacts while that is impossible with WA. The only way you can get out of getting scam calls is by turning on “mute unknown calls” and “limit groups to contacts” but the calls will still pop up and you will still get chat requests so you will have to block and delete each one of them manually.

Instead of just limiting all communication to your contacts like on telegram.

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1 point

I believe the same settings are also in WhatsApp.

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1 point

No in whatsapp you can’t limit requests to only your contacts. It’s only with groups. I’ve checked and googled.

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6 points

How? I’ve been a heavy telegram user for more than 8 years now. Not a single time I have unwillingly been added to a group I had no interest in or been messaged with any scam message.

I know of privacy settings that limit these, but I have none of them turned on, because I have some people that might add me to important groups.

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5 points

That’s interesting I never had that experience with telegram. It’s been cust as “clean” as Whatsapp for me

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5 points

I get you, but I don’t get the love for Facebook/meta/whatsapp

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15 points
*

There’s no ‘love’ for Meta, most people don’t think in those terms. It’s just that their platforms are in heavy use in many countries and you tend to use the method most common to people in your circle.

My older friends and family use Messenger and SMS, my similarly aged peers use WhatsApp, and my work colleagues use Signal. So I correspond across all these. I know the benefits and pitfalls of each but I can’t influence the established communication choices of others. The only people i know who use Telegram are racist nutjobs.

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1 point

Same but android development communities for me, on telegram

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1 point

why did you enable DMs from random accounts?

Easily turned off.

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2 points

I didn’t enable anything. One would assume the default settings should offer a good level of protection to the users.

Interestingly I haven’t had a single spammer/scammer annoy me on Signal. I’m not sure if there are any of these settings in Signal?

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61 points

People don’t choose, people use whatever most people around them use. Whatsapp and telegram are both centralized, and shouldn’t be trusted because, by the nature of it, they can (and eventually will) turn user-hostile.

Messengers come and go, if we really want to make some progress in this area, we should embrace federated and p2p protocols as the logical evolution. Anything else is just wasting time and user privacy.

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6 points

Matrix protocol messengers amiright?

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6 points

I’d rather push for XMPP personally, the matrix protocol has been a dumpster fire in an “almost ready, trust me bro” state for as long as it has existed, and failed to justify its own weight and complexity. But that’s mostly irrelevant since they are open protocols and can somewhat bridge with one another.

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1 point

I’m selfhosting a Matrix server and have all my Chats from other apps also bridged to there. For just text chat I don’t feel like Matrix is missing anything, the thing preventing me from getting my not so technically minded friends on it is the missing support for good group voice chat.

It XMPP better for group VC? Is the option available to bridge Messenger like Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, iMessage to XMPP?

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