Which is your preferred messaging app? I just want some insights about these two.
You may share other messaging apps too.
I use both. No, really.
If one’s intent is to connect with as many people as possible, having as many messaging/real chat apps as possible is a good idea (imo).
That’s why I have WA, DC, Stoat, Signal, Matrix and IRC.
So, I host a Matrix Stack and I bridge to Signal (and Discord). It’s the best of both worlds – all my messages funnel through one application.
Seeing as you’re using Lemmy/PieFed, I’m going to guess you’ve got a handle on how federation works. I’d suggest Matrix.
With your bridging to discord, do you have dm capabilities? Able to join servers you don’t control? Because I’m nervous about the idea of getting banned for puppeting since I have multiple big servers I’m in charge of
@jksalcedo Delta chat is the best
Seconding DeltaChat
Both. Signal for friends and family. Matrix for fedi friends.
Signal.
Matrix is just far too convoluted. Signal seems to be the easiest one to use. SimpleX is the best.
What is complicated about Matrix?
I have constant encryption errors that I can never figure out how to fix it. And I always have issues signing in on a new device. I don’t even know why.
they do better onboarding last i tried it, but adding servers is not as simple as just pasting a code. you suddenly have to worry about servers and which rooms are in which server and such. you do have to make sense of things when you first log in.
i found it unfamiliar, but i guess such is life when you are swapping apps. the clients i tried could use some tweaking and feel pretty sparse. some looked and felt like IRC.
it should have more pictures (not entirely unserious)
Signal (but actually Molly)
I also prefer Molly as client.
Can you elaborate why ? I’m not sure I see a real difference
Molly has more features and it’s developed by indie devs.
Well it’s a fork of signal so makes sense
For one thing, it still has the option for an additional fingerprint lock to open the app.
Sure, my phone itself is locked anyway, usually.
I still like having the second lock built into the app itself for the odd time (however rare) that I hand my unlocked phone to someone.
I know they’re not snooping into my signal messages while I blink or misclick on a notification or whatever.It may not be a big deal for some/most but I like that feature and I can’t imagine that’s something that needs much upkeep once initially implemented.
I’m sure it’s not the only feature, but it’s one I use often.
Signal. I use it with frs and family. No need for hosting Matrix for now.
Matrix for maximum protection
Signal for non-techie family and friends who are not also vendors on the Darknet
Think its relatively new, but theres also chatto
Didnt people Here suspect its ai slop?
I wonder if its because of a similarly named chatto ai, but no idea. Is there any evidence of that?
Interesting…
So it’s against federation
Think its just built in such a way that federation isn’t needed. Your server data is just your server.
Like ventrilo or teamspeak
Currently me and my friend are using a self-hosted server with Matrix, and Sable as a client.
Sable is the only one with Discord-like functions out of all the clients I’ve tried, all the others falling very short.
Besides that there is Fluxer, which is far more feature complete than any Matrix client. It has some key features holding it back, though, which are no Federation yet, and no E2E encryption yet. But otherwise setting up your own fully functional server is incredibly easily.
Signal. Matrix was made by Israeli spyware company Amdocs and when an employee was asked about it after the split to a UK company they pretended like Amdocs wasn’t caught in multiple global spyware scandals already.
But they say Signal is centralized, and hosted in the US.
So neither is the answer, I guess. We’re cooked.
For easy privacy the answer is Signal. If you want to put in effort then SimpleX or others seem better.
Matrix MIGHT be okay if you self host it, but I definitely wouldn’t trust the main Element hosted server. But the dev team sketches me out too hard so I’d just pick alternatives.
Matrix is literally an open standard, use a server and client written by people you trust, or write your own.
Signal is made by a private company and is completely closed source.
Signal is open source but it’s hosted centrally. So you’re trusting their server.
Matrix is a protocol it’s not hosted anywhere. But the primary developer and host instance now called Element.
But it being created and initially bankrolled by an Israeli spyware company known for creating backdoors, and the lead devs still refusing to acknowledge that doesn’t inspire me much more confidence.
If you want privacy SimpleX seems like better option than Matrix.
You can host a server which uses software not written by Element. Same for the client.
I don’t trust the Signal devs because I have no reason to. I don’t want to use anyone else’s servers unless I’m paying them or they’re paying me 😅
And I love swapping/trying new clients.
You glossed over the fact that it came from Israel’s intelligence-community. Its design is woeful–that’s the protocol, regardless of client or server implementation. The project reeks of a state-backed program to get ahead of the increasing desire for encryption in everyday communications. Yet encryption has always been an after thought within that program. All those bridges to funnel different protocols into the program.
Matrix is only really enjoyable with unencrypted chats.
I have fairly recently switched phones. Now, a good number of older messenges fail to decrypt. Even when I don’t switch devices, a group chat for a three day long event with a very small group already gave us lots of fun decryption errors. Oh, and I have this other fun group chat where Fluffy Chat constantly reminds me that people whose devices I haven’t verified will be able to read my messenges every time I send something. Also, Matrix has coutless clients with different feature sets and I heard calls are a pain to ßet up.
Signal, on the other hand, just works. Federation and decentralization is obviously nice but a functional product is more importmant. I haven’t had a chance to try XMPP unfortunately.
Don’t you have your encryption key saved somewhere?
You should be able to decrypt the messages if you still have the old device to verify the new connection, or if you saved the encryption key that’s setup when you first login to the account.
Appreciate it’s not as simple as logging in, because that’s the point of separating the encryption key from login creds in the first place. Even if your accounts credentials are compromised, previous messages aren’t, and any future messages from the unverified device are flagged as suspicious.
XMPP has some good options. I tried utilising mov.im servers, which claims to have E2EE.(using conversations app to connect) Its very user friendly and just works. Though, I’m not sure how the encryption works on there as I’d already got my users used to element, and saw no reason to move (IMO its still a better option than signal due to the self hosting capabilities, but depends on what level of solution you’re after)
Only because nobody answered with this one:
IRC
Decentralized and an open protocol. Client setup to connect is not so straightforward, but it’s a one and done. Very robust.
I’m allergic to centralized communication schemes, though I do use signal to communicate with one person.
I want to research some of the other suggestions that have been brought up, so thank you for the post!
That’s new to me. Thanks!
Lmfao that’s funny, IRC is the oldest of them all.
From purely a user perspective, because I haven’t dug into the tech behind either, I’d probably vote Matrix. Signal is nice but personally I find matrix easier to use for group chats and bigger rooms. I only have 4-5 people on signal and it’s useful for those moments but on Matrix I can find bigger chats to join and jump in and just talk with a handful of people.
