Here in South Europe people mostly use Viber. Edit: I was very unaware about situation in Southern Europe as I’ve learned from this post… Most people in Croatia use Viber!
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I am German and use Telegram, WhatsApp, Signal, Threema and SMS because NO ONE CAN MAKE UP THEIR FUCKING MINDS!!!1!!11!
Some people seem to be extra confusing and contact me on multiple channels based on the moon cycle or whatever the fuck.
the worst part is when they start calling 🙄
based on the moon cycle
Lol, right? Wtf?
I have a friend with multiple active numbers. Very fun to figure out.
10000000% this … Like I just wish everyone used Telegram for IRL chat. Matrix and Discord is fine, there is even a bridge server you can run, so everyone can chat ala IRC. (We run one, it’s great).
SMS/RCS or iMessage if you’re asking what most people use.
Signal does end-to-end encrypted messaging, voice, and video chat.
A vast majority of people I’ve met through work and other social activities simply use the default messaging app on their device.
As an American living in Germany, I have:
- Signal
- Matrix
- Discord
- Telegram
- SimpleX
- SMS via Google Voice for some very stubborn Americans
Everyone I know in Europe uses Signal or Whatsapp, often both. Sometimes when I suggest to Americans who live in the US that they should use one of those, they counter that I should buy an iPhone and use iMessage.
As a fellow American, fuck iMessage. I wish we were more like Europe in that regard.
I’ve even seen technically-sophisticated adults exclude people from group conversations for not having iPhones. The resistance to using anything else is weird. I’m even willing to add to the above list if somebody has a different preference that isn’t the one thing not everyone can use.
With the Digital Market Act in the EU they’ll soon all be speaking to each other. Vestager is about to tear those messaging monopolies a new asshole!
That sounds good, until you realize that your data will then end up with Meta after you specifically left all of their services.
That’s a GDPR request away from deletion, at least in the EU (and for a while at least, the U.K.)
I don’t want them to have my data. It doesn’t matter how easy it is to delete them. And basically every time someone scans their contacts I might get re-added to allow this cross functionality
Its so weird how standardised the use of Apple Phones is in the US
How ya liking SimpleX? I’m just rocking Discord, Matrix for internet ppl WhatsApp and Telegram for RL ppl. Used to use Signal, but Telegram replaced it a while back for me. Way better feature set.
SimpleX is interesting. Its complete lack of server-side profiles would be promising if I had something really secret to discuss, but I don’t. It doesn’t have a way to get timely notifications without keeping the CPU awake and draining the battery, so it’s kind of a non-starter for general use.
What features do you prefer in Telegram? Few people I know use it and I just keep it around as an alternate because why not?
I like the fact that my messages are on in sync on all my devices. Yeah, it’s not E2E, but it’s good enough for just chatting with friends and family. I like how easy it is to send photos on it. Also being able to edit messages is nice for when you fat finger stuff.
And yeah, SimpleX seems like some spy level shit, neat though. I used Signal for a few years, back when it had SMS support.
Signal does stay in sync between my laptop and phone, but I think if I wanted more than that it would not be easy to achieve. Message editing was added in a recent update, and it seems to be as easy to send photos via Signal as any other messaging app (I can’t remember if it was ever difficult).
I’ve become more insistent about E2EE for anything I rely on lately because big platforms have been scanning “private” conversations for content some computer program guesses violates their policies. Someone I know recently got a suspension from Facebook (yes, they’re probably worse than other platforms) for a joke sent to a friend in chat years prior. That took it from an abstract they could to a concrete they do.
Yeah, fuck Facebook. I don’t trust them for shit.
No doubt they’re the worst, but will Discord do the same thing? I wouldn’t be shocked. Will Telegram? If they get enough pressure from governments because of people talking about doing bad things over Telegram, they probably will.
So now if I’m using anything that isn’t E2EE, I find myself thinking about whether dark humor or hypothetical self defense scenarios will get my flagged by some algorithm. People act differently when they’re being watched.
Are you using Telegram for its privacy and E2EE or just for the features. Because Telegram sure is not private nor does it have any E2EE unless you specifically select to be in a “secure chat” with someone.
Nah, just for the features. It’s secure enough for just chit chat. I only use the secure message chat when I need to send documents to family. I just like that they have clients on every platform, including Linux.
Signal for the half dozen people I actually give a crap about messaging back and forth with.
SMS for the monthly/yearly exchanges with everyone else.
Signal for everything.
There are a couple people who are too lazy to get Signal, and they got iPhones, so I set up an iMessage server to forward messages to my GrapheneOS phone.
But the communication there is extremely sparse and surface level. It’s basically just a touch point. The real conversations all go through Signal.
Share a bit (or a link) about your iMessage server?
Maybe a good idea for a blog post, but the general gist is this:
- Buy an old/cheap Mac mini
- Set up AirMessage or BlueBubbles (open source)
- Run a command or get an app so keep your Mac mini (or whatever other Apple device you’re using) awake 24/7
The messages will get delivered to your Mac, and then forwarded to your phone via AirMessage or BlueBubbles.
Thank you :)
I want to do something like this but airmessage does not have a desktop client that works without using their clouds. I use a Apple phone but I just want to be able to respond to texts on my Linux computers. I have an iMac server that I vnc into but it’s kind of annoying just to respond to a text.
Here in South Europe people mostly use Viber.
South Europe? In Italy everyone uses WhatsApp
I was surprised to read that a country in South Europe mainly used Viber. I’m not European but I’m almost definite that WhatsApp has the largest market share for chat apps in all of Europe. Maybe Telegram coming a close second
If you move a bit east of Italy, to that peninsula that should not be named, Viber gets real popular.
Florida?
In Greece, you’re right. But most Europe is on WhatsApp and telegram
*In Croatia
Most people I know use SMS/RCS/iMessage or Discord. My family uses Signal, but I don’t know anyone else IRL that has even heard of it. I personally don’t like Signal because they don’t have some basic features, such as if you get a new phone, you need to export/import all of your old messages manually. If your old phone broke or your traded it in already, tough shit. If you log in on your laptop, afaik, there’s no way to get your old messages from your phone. I know these were intentional design decisions to make it as secure as possible, but I would be fine with something being slightly less secure to have these QOL features.
Signal definitely has some room to improve with regard to backup/sync. It should probably never store your messages on its servers, which is what it would take for you to get your history back if you lose access to all your devices containing it, but it could allow you to keep the full history in sync across multiple devices without compromising its security guarantees.
Who convinced your family? I tried to do the same with my family and friends to no avail.
My dad, mostly. I just explained it in another comment.
A combination. For the tech challenged, SMS. For those a little bit tech friendly, Telegram or Signal.
Similar
Canada’s pretty close to America, so I’ll answer. My family uses WhatsApp. Better than unencrypted, at least.
You’re not going to get a very representative sample here. Signal is great but a lot of North Americans haven’t even heard of it.
Damn. Here in Quebec pretty much everyone seems to default to FB Messenger.
I’m pretty curious to know what got a bunch of prairie farmers on WhatsApp, but I suspect it leads back to India fairly quickly. Unfortunately, French-speaking Indians are a rare breed.
Here in NL it’s pretty much 100% Whatsapp, from family, friends and colleagues.
Same in germany. Some people that care a little about security might use Telegram, Signal and/or Threema, but most still use WhatsApp parallel for family and stuff
I would say Telegram is less secure than Whatsapp because the messages are not end to end encrypted, when I last checked.
SMS/RCS for friends/family in meatspace, Discord for friends in cyberspace.
Snapchat still seems to be a default conduit of communication for my family members and their respective friends. I do not have Snapchat and never will. They are mildly annoyed at my stubbornness.
I have yet to meet a single soul in my local circles who is willing to install any messaging platform over any concern of privacy or security. These are very simply not important factors to any of them. It’s upsetting. But, y’know, lead a horse to water, etc.
Discord continues to be a choice platform for my online friends circle. I don’t know so much about any of them, but I almost never use it for 1:1 private messaging. It’s there for the rare aside conversation. But its primary form of use for me is as a big town square in servers with dozens of people. It’s essentially my version of going to the mall after school or to the local pub after work.
Mostly SMS, but I have one friend who uses Whatsapp. I have Signal installed but wasn’t able to convince anyone else to switch.
Literally nobody I know uses Viber. WTF is OP on about?
Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, USA, and Philippines. Interesting.
