The hardest surveillance app to quit is whatsapp. The network effect is very strong. So many family and friends groups that it would be hard to abandon.
Still, I'm ready to do it as soon as I can get a decent alternative for private messages and group chat.
It will take a lot of convincing, but I'm autistic enough that I can drag some of my contacts along and ignore the protest of others. Hopefully leading by example.
It would really help if Nostr DMs and group chats worked!
Replies (29)
I thought a selfhosted matrix.org synapse server is the answer.
And it still kinda is for me, but imho it is not for masses..
to selfhost you need not only a server with public ip and enough space for media in messages, but also a TLD..
did you try keet.io ?
it has pretty cool architecture!
@npub1tplx...y5vz have you tried simplex for group chats? closest ive found to zero metadata, though the onboarding still trips up non technical family
I've used matrix. It's pretty good.
But definitely not normie friendly.
I very much doubt that I could get many of my contacts to use it.
I have yet to try keet.
why not signal or
@npub104zw...d99j ?
I just saw this on my feed about 10 mins before I saw your post. 💁♂️
Might be worth keeping an eye on. 🤙
View quoted note →Fully agree.
Besides technical barriers, mental barriers are the toughest thing to deal with 😒
“There’s no worse blind than the one who doesn’t want to see”, as the 🇪🇸 saying goes
Didn’t have the chance to look at it, but looks like the usual opportunistic tool 🤔
Flix, en la tribu Ready to Prepare hemos debatido largo y tendido en Desafíos sobre este escenario y varias propuestas interesantes han surgido a tal efecto.
Estamos en Simple X. Te esperamos en la tribu Ready to Prepare.
🔥🔥🔥
It really is a mental game. You can explain decentralized protocols and open networks all day, but the real final boss of switching away from WhatsApp is explaining to your aunt why she can't send her daily 'Good Morning' flashing GIF to your Nostr inbox. 😭 We'll get them here eventually, one node at a time.
The best chat app we have used is Simplex
Every / any app that requires a (verified) phone number should be given a wide berth
@npub1ht6s...3f5x is what I have been using consistently for a bit now.
What if instead of trying to change platforms we communicate as before?
In El Salvador (Im sure its like this all over) there are billboards advertising their number with the WhatsApp logo.
I don’t think it’s going anywhere.
Sad
I’d say Signal is the easiest entry point for 80% of the people who would change.
Then I believe Simplex is the better alternative, as it doesn’t require any number or email, and you can run your server on your Start9
Eventually, when the Nostr protocol becomes ubiquitous , White Noise or some similar thing will probably be the way to go
Keychat works
Radar.Chat (Signal fork that has a lightning wallet)
Never used WhatsApp.
You want to switch to something where you control both clients and servers.
SimpleX and Whitenoise are both good. Molly (Signal) is okay as a backup option. People are still used to their phone numbers over random identifiers like SimpleX.
What would be good would be a campaign. Not just one person trying to mobilize their netwirk, but different people mobilizing at the same time.
They blocked me... GrapheneOS for whatsapp with no Gulag services is dead... Well... I'm not using anymore and... Who cares...
It's open-source, so anyone can just audit it themselves. 💁♂️
I'm just trying to help a stranger. 🤷♂️
DYOR. 🤙
nothing is HARD
when u decide not hang around with dumbidiots n their groups
What about Secure Private Chat (XMPP)
For direct, encrypted, and private conversations.
? What is your opinion?
Here in the Eastern Europe we mostly use Viber, not WhatsApp. Basically the same UI, less Meta.
This is very interesting. I will research.
The biggest issue with simplex is device migration and the lack of a contiguous desktop integration.
The plusses are that you can host your own server if you want to keep comms very discreet (though that does leave you open to other forms of tracking).
The current closest nostr equivalent is Vector.
I had friends get very angry about me dumping WhatsApp, and, mostly, we don't communicate much anymore.
I'm mostly ok with that.
There are 3 alternatives to really consider nowadays that doesn't store your social graph and that you don't need any phone number nor email to subscribe.
- SimpleX.chat
- Delta.Chat
- Keet.io (not yet open source, but will be)
