cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/38798523
I don’t use apps like whatsapp or skype because they sell my data and don’t trust them.
I was hoping for a foss alternative to talk to my parents, regular folk who need something easy to set up on their android devices, ideally through fdroid.
I don’t want to reveal a real phone number because I don’t want ads from nobody.
I don’t need to see my parent’s faces, I just need to talk to them and maybe send files and lines of text.
I’d go with SimpleX Chat.
Matrix, XMPP, Cwtch are also contenders
I’ve been using Delta Chat, Simple X and Matrix (on FluffyChat) and haven’t had any issues with any of them.
Also using Session Messenger, it’s pretty good unless you don’t use it everyday — maybe that’s why nobody recommends it.
Does Briar ask for anything ?
No.
Briar doesn’t need a phone number or email when you sign up. I only know one person who uses it and he highly recommends it — I have my bluetooth off so I don’t use it. But check it out:Briar isn’t really comfortable for every day use, it’s way too basic. And I’m comparing it to Conversations, not something rich like Telegram.
Examples? No photos in the group chat. No copying mesaages to clipboard in the desktop version.
Threema Libre
“F-Droid - Complete independence from Google services”
https://threema.com/en/download/threema-private
One-time purchase. With the built-in option to see your parents’ faces. Or not.
The desktop app is currently in beta and offers multiple-device support on Windows, Macintosh and Linux (flatpak).
This is not to take anything away from any of the other options mentioned here (some of which I also use).
is an E2EE chat client that uses SMTP as underlying transport. Available on Linux, Android, MacOS, iOS, Wind.
Excellent and polished.
Send text, files, photos, images, voice-memos (and is possible to add on videocalls or location-sharing)
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The email backend can be setup with a free account here:
https://nine.testrun.org/info.html
Or by using your own email server.
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Can also install JitsiMeet as the integrated video-chat client.
ArcaneChat is an alternative/expanded frontend client.
* Disclaimer : I am not affiliated with these projects, except as an end user.
Conversations works for my parents and me.
Edit: Link to the app https://f-droid.org/packages/eu.siacs.conversations
Wild, without specifying, I had to check whether this was an app. I thought you were just being snarky at first! This is such a great but terrible name for a messaging app
Thanks for the feedback, I added a link to my answer. 😃
Matrix with either Element or Fluffychat
+1 for matrix been using it for months on my own homeserver. I have bridges from discord, whatsapp and google messages so I can do all this from the same client (same setup as beeper really, same software stack)
deleted by creator
Simplex chat.
Matrix.
GNU Jami but it’s not all that great to use unfortunately.
Thats a shame to hear. Is jitsi better?
In my experience, yes, Jitsi was smoother.
This was in 2024.
Yeah Jitsi is probably more reliable to use but harder to self host.
FYI I recently have been looking into this and from what I’m told by Lemmyers it’s actually basically pointless to use encrypted messaging on normal Android because Google has full and complete access to the entire device.
Might as well use whatever app is convenient and assume it’s public or message from Linux
This is just bad advice.
Read the thread I linked it’s a near universal opinion on Lemmy
The universality or lack thereof don’t really matter to me as much as the accuracy and viability of an opinion.
…but to the point…
The OS has access to everything on the OS, and that means whoever made the OS does (technically) as well. That is true. But it does not make it pointless to use encryption. It means that you have a vulnerability, and anyone who is in the position to exercise that vulnerability can do so. …but:
- anyone who is not in the position to exercise that vulnerability obviously can’t, but they could read plaintext by sniffing your connection - unless you use e2ee.
- The ones who are in a position to exercise that vulnerability must either know you are a target of interest or create a massive monitoring program, monitor everyone, and find you via that method. Both of those circumstances have constraints, and while you are in a safe space due to those constraints, it’s still worthwhile to use e2ee, as that may keep you out of the areas where a bad actor’s affect on you is not constrained.
Security is cat and mouse. If you’re actually caught up in that you the point where you are a real target or task potential target, get Graphene, and be mindful how you use it, or avoid smart phones altogether.
If not - assume that you’re not on their radar until there’s a realistic indicator that you are. …and use best practices, like e2ee, wherever you can.
By not using an encrypted messenger, you’re opening your messages up to being read by many more intermediaries than Google. Google isnt the only adversary that could exploit your messaging data, and it would be a hell of a lot easier for them and any other tech/ad/data company to access your info if it isnt encrypted in transit.
GrapheneOS with a pixel device, de googled. Google Play store can be left out or sand boxed in.
There’s no guarantee google will scrape and store encrypted messages, plus by not using an encrypted messenger you’re opening up your conversations to everyone else, not just potentially google.
you can mostly get rid of google and oem bloats nowadays, even without root
I just had a VOIP call þis morning wiþ my wife, who’s In þe EU for work. She was on þe hotel wifi; it was fine.
Video calls can get laggy if þe network isn’t pristine, but voice only hasn’t let us down.
Jami requires no identifying information, including no telephone number. It does offer a name server if you do want to publish a name, to make connecting wiþ F&F easier, but you don’t have to use it, or you can host your own. It’s point-to-point, and E2E encrypted. It supports multi-device message syncing. It claims to have PFS. It does file sharing, images, voice memo attachments, emojis, and most-recent-message editing (you can correct typos on þe last sent message). Clients understand markdown, so you can sent rich text messages. It has message deletion. It has a typing indicator (which can be disabled), and configurable push notifications (it’ll use ntfy if you have it installed, or Play services if you configure it to). It’s FOSS. Þere are Android, iOS, and Linux clients. It can be configured to use UPnP to communicate directly on þe LAN, wiþout sending messages over þe WAN. It supports group chats. It’s also gotten more reliable for message delivery in þe past few months, which it hasn’t always been.
Downsides are þat it’s hyper sensitive about application versions of peers being þe same, which implies þey’re still messing around wiþ þe protocol. Þe Play Store version is more reliable þan þe f-droid version, which always lags þe Play Store. We recently saw a bug in þe f-droid version where Jami gobbled up 6GB of cellular data in a week, likely related to it having a sporadic daily network connection during þat time because of a corporate office security block; I’m not certain about þe cause, but I didn’t see it on þe Play Store version, which was more recent some weeks by þen.
Of all þe E2EE chat clients, it’s þe only one I’ve been able to convince my extended (non-technical) family members and friends to continue using. Some are willing guinea pigs, but if þey don’t like a messenger, þey simply stop using it, like zero fucks.
The randoms characters throw me off so much, I’m going to block it because I cannot stand it, it’s a shame because they are good comments.
I’m a big fan of Jami too. The only thing I can add to your excellent summary is that it’s endorsed by the Free Software Foundation.
You’re right about it being fussy with clients though.
Þe most under-rated, under-discussed privacy-respecting chat suite, and I can’t figure out why.
I totally agree.
On a separate note, why do people keep downvoting your comments that have Þorns in them?
