Is there a competitor to Signal that blows it out of the water for usability, adoption and privacy? Do we want one? Nostr based?
Discussion
do you have concerns about signal?
We could do without the logging of a phone number. Logging a (throwaway?) npub sounds like it could be useful
Some damus peoples used Session but I couldn’t get it working on macos #[2]
#[5] was working on some form of encrypted messaging, not sure how much nostr related
Yes! We can give #Nostr our Encryption method for free... We have it on GitHub, if someone wants to see the source code, just let us know.
Session works pretty well for me on iOS and macOS. Most of the Damus translations team is on there. Not sure why Will had issues. But it seems great — no need for a phone number or email address. It’s all based on generated IDs. Your IP address is hidden and messages are routed through multiple nodes across a decentralized network. There’s support for attaching images, voice, GIFs, emoji reactions, disappearing messages. There’s some message retention limits if someone joins a group chat much later on than when the group chat first got created. Overall, it seems as good as Signal.
Perhaps because it has no Apple Silicon native desktop client. I asked the team about making the iPad app available through Catalyst, and the want to look into it, but it will take time.
https://thearcapp.com looks alright, but has a long way to go development wise.
Otherwise https://getsession.org, as mentioned. https://simplex.chat perhaps, but it seems a bit complicated for casual use.