SMS app

E24

I use signal as much as I can but some people just refuse to switch. What is a decent SMS app that is better than the default?

Skyway

E24 I've been using google messages with permissions revoked , works good much nicer ui.

csis01

E24 Signal makes too much metadata available to untrusted third parties, including those who run the servers through which messages are relayed, google/apple through which notifications are routed, as well obviously as any organization who potentially has access to data from those sources, such as the US government.

There are tons of private and secure SELF HOSTED messaging services available. I'd suggest looking into those and picking one that you like, and using THAT instead of untrustworthy semi-public services.

turmoil2750

there's nothing except the sms app from simple mobile tools

GrapheneLover

Other than the default one, QKSMS seems to be popular.

[deleted]

Learn to communicate in a more secure way and educate others so they can follow you. They will not until they realize they have a problem.

N1b

Basically the answers you've already got. The pre-installed app, Simple SMS or QKSMS are your friends here. Try them and see what works best for you.

In an ideal world, you'd only need SMS in rare cases where you receive short codes (e.g. to register Signal on a new device).

Depending on your peers and also country culture, SMS might be the main communication tool. If you want people to use Signal instead, nice words and privacy education won't do (people do what's convenient and if nobody they chat with is on Signal, it doesn't make sense to them). Michael Bazzell has a good strategy: He tells people that he's best available on Signal and then makes sure to answer SMS with a few days delay and a sentence like "Sorry, I just rarely check on my SMS. If you need me to reply quickly, please use Signal instead". He also mentioned a friend that had Signal, but was barely available. He send him a Signal message mentioning he got tickets to the friend's favorite baseball team on short notice. The friend didn't check Signal in time and missed the game, but ever since he's eager to use Signal in case another great offer happens. For his family he sent a random family picture from the past to the Signal family group in order to trigger more interaction with Signal.

So depending on your situation, you might need to be creative. I wish you the best of luck, fortunately I got all my family and friends to use Signal after a while with little to no resistance, and we have a much better communication now in different group chats and even video calls.

turmoil2750

qksms is unmaintained

[deleted]

turmoil2750 iDK about that: https://github.com/moezbhatti/qksms/commits/v3.10

turmoil2750

[deleted]

january was a long time ago. plus latest stable release is from 2021

[deleted]

turmoil2750 Yes the stable release of QKSMS dates back to 2021, but it still undergoes occasional development in the V branch, and QKSMS is just an open-source alternative for the stock messaging app on Android.

Not all apps require continuous updates to maintain the appearance of being up to date. For instance, if I were to develop a calculator app, I may not find it necessary to continuously update it solely for the sake of appearing up to date. As a calculator, its core functionality remains intact, and users may not expect frequent updates beyond occasional bug fixes.

wuseman

turmoil2750 there's a fork now, named Quik. Works okay to me.

turmoil2750

[deleted]
fair enough

turmoil2750

csis01
you're right in theory, but in practice signal is something people are actually using or are willing to install because it already achieved a level of brand recognition (in the eyes of the normies). people are only interested in superficial good feelings of using a brand something they already heard "people are using" and are unwillling to install anything else. xmpp and matrix are "obscure" and "hacky" in their eyes. so if you actually want to have contacts in your messaging app (or actually bump into people who are on it) then signal is a good compromise.

kebuchan

I got a few immediate family to start using Signal about 3 yrs ago.... Trying to switch to Session.... so far my wife uses it because I put the app on her phone :-) The session app on my work laptop (windblows) keeps hanging... would be convenient to have that working consistently. Thanks for the heads-up on QKSMS @turmoil2750

csis01

turmoil2750 A few fringe wackos use signal, and that's ALL. The reality is that virtually NOBODY has heard of it, and it doesn't have any substantial brand recognition.

GrapheneLover

Signal is pretty popular in North America and even the older generation has started to hear about it since the COVID days as most people had nothing to do besides be on their phones so Signal got more popular than before, pretty much like how Telegram became popular.

XMPP is still unheard of for most of the people. XMPP with Omemo and hosted by your own server is pretty solid though.

csis01

GrapheneLover XMPP is a protocol, not a service.

de0u

GrapheneLover Signal is pretty popular in North America [...]

How popular? 1% of phone owners? 5%?

casualmilkenjoyer

de0u
I would hesitate to make a guess, but most of my extended family has it installed. And I frequently run into people that use it or at least aware of its existence. Probably still a minority, but it's not as niche here as you might expect.

GrapheneLover

casualmilkenjoyer Exactly, more and more people are aware of Signal since the COVID days. I know a lot of older people 50+ years of age who became aware of Signal during the lockdown times. Definitely became popular during those times a lot of people downloaded the app at the time, which is what I was stating.