Nostr Web Client

Yes, I agree the phone number requirement is not ideal, and there are better alternatives like SimpleX that are technically superior. But say your friends and family all use Signal: As a hypothetical, what would be the best way to go about using Signal for them?

"There are no burner numbers."

I just provided a few links above to grab a temp phone number to use to verify Signal, almost no account info required, using a fake email, and you can pay with coinjoined Bitcoin or Monero. Anyone in the world can use it. If done correctly behind tor, or at least a good VPN, it seems like it would be pretty anonymous. And once you set a Signal pin for that phone number no one should be able to use that phone number again to register on Signal. In theory at least.

So, the way I understand it, Signal is very private cryptographically, just not anonymous because of the phone number requirement. But they seem to help obfuscate who is messaging who using another cryptographic technique they call "sealed sender" to break up the connection graph. But this is just my understanding I don't know if it is correct and am not an expert on this stuff. That's why I asked if you or anyone else could give me some insight.

Akito 2y ago

Second thing is, why use a service with a phone number, if you have so many easier alternatives available?

You talk about VPNs, Tor, Bitcoin, etc... Why make life so hard?

There are so many instant messengers, which don't require shit.

For example, XMPP is dead easy to set up. Have already set it up for several people with no technical knowledge at all (you can be lucky, if they find the on/off button on a device) & it works without any hassle.

Now, enable OMEMO & you get free encryption without any effort. You usually don't even need to press a button, because it's usually enabled by default.

There are tons of XMPP servers, which don't care about your account, at all. & even in some weird scenario, where they do, you can switch accounts within minutes, by just choosing an alternative server.

Simple & way less difficult & time-consuming than your Signal journey over three oceans. :P

Reply to this note

Please Login to reply.

Discussion

Saberhagen The Nameless 2y ago

Yes, I think you're right about everything you say.

But if you can't convince the people you talk with to switch over it is kind of moot. That is why I was trying to figure out the most practical way of going about using Signal for this scenaro. What is the point of gettig SimpleX if you have no one to use it with (I still use SimpleX where I can for any communities on there)

But again I agree 100% with everything you say.

Saberhagen The Nameless 2y ago

...and Signal is much more preferable than something like Facebook messenger, Snapchat, or plain SMS. Maybe I can convince them to get on SimpleX over time.

Akito 2y ago

Speaking of SimpleX, in my life this app was a total failure.

I convinced someone getting an alternative to WhatsApp, so we could talk to each other, since I don't support WhatsApp.

What's happened is, that the person installed SimpleX & uninstalled it within 24 hours, because it drained tons of battery compared to how the person was used to battery drain.

Basically, I lost one opportunity, because SimpleX was no sufficient alternative.

I think I even reported the issue & then realised, this was a huge problem, which was going on for a long while & they still hadn't fixed it by then.

So, again, not sure why SimpleX is so hyped. In my experience it sucked ass. Do people actually use it outside, without constantly charging the phone? :D

Saberhagen The Nameless 2y ago

I think this is a tradeoff to not using any centralized service for notifications. I feel you though. I remember Matrix Element battery drain was so terrible I uninstalled it too.

Not sure when it was that you used SimpleX, but there have been many improvements. They have three options for notifications with varying battery drain:

-No notifications: no battery drain

-Periodic notifications: some battery drain (every ten minutes)

-Instant notifications: substantial battery drain

I'm content with periodic notifications, but understand why that wouldn't be enough for some.

Akito 2y ago

Pretty long while ago, considering how new this app is. At least a few months back.

Since then, I Force Stopped it & didn't turn it on, again. :D

I don't know about these notification options. Will check that out, thanks. ;)

Akito 2y ago

Convincing someone is an art.

A pretty long while ago, I decided one day to leave WhatsApp.

I told people, I'm just going to use an alternative for now & no WhatsApp, anymore.

All my real family, friends etc. came with me, because they wanted to stay in touch with me. :)

Others, who simply didn't wanna switch were people after all, who I could easily drop, since they apparently weren't that important. :)

So, the remainders stayed on WhatsApp & haven't used it since then. Lost the account access & cannot retrieve it, since it requires a phone number, while my requirement are local backups, which means WhatsApp is doing too bad of a job, fulfilling my requirements. :D

My point is, if you really wanna convince someone, you can't just tell them to do something with your words. Sometimes, you have hard shells to crack, which means you need to do something relatively drastic about it. :)