Invidious link: https://invidious.tiekoetter.com/watch?v=TzGEmXync5M
An overview of Signal’s long list of flaws (phone number id, Play service payments, centralized infrastructure, etc) and the history of The Signal Foundation of ignoring many of these issues.
Signal is disappointing. And I am tired of pretending that it’s not. I have been using and recommending Signal for longer than it existed. Signal just came out with a feature we have been waiting for for 8 years.
You see 8 years ago, the only flaw Signal had was that it required a phone number to register and find contacts. This was bad, because it meant you couldn’t get an anonymous Signal account, which meant you could get hacked or abused by anyone who knew your phone number. It was also easy for authoritarians to censor people’s access to Signal by denying phone registrations by country code.
The reason for the phone number requirement was to prevent spam. The primary function, was to use your phonebook to quickly onboard new users and send notifications whenever anyone in your contact list signed up on Signal. A very convenient Silicon Valley feature that allowed people to quickly connect with their friends and also let domestic abusers find out their victims are trying to contact a lawyer’s office over Signal.
And after profusely spitting on it, what do you suggest to replace it with?
Clickbait.
Because that’s the thing with these videos: they tear Signal apart, and then… nothing. No alternative proposed. And even when these people have one, it’s never something normal humans actually use in any significant number.
Signal isn’t perfect, I won’t pretend otherwise. But my actual choice isn’t between Signal and some hypothetical perfect messenger. It’s between Signal and Messenger, WhatsApp and Telegram. On that scale, Signal wins, and it’s not even close.
And no, my family and friends are not moving to Matrix. Getting them all on Signal was already a nightmare. I’m not going to explain homeservers and Matrix IDs to my relatives. If your alternative requires a tutorial to even register, it’s not a replacement, it’s a hobby for tech enthusiasts.
So yes, keep the pressure on the Signal Foundation, some of it is deserved. But until a better option actually gains mainstream traction, Signal remains the only realistic way to get regular people out of Meta’s and Telegram’s data
Try DeltaChat. Seriously.
I don’t know if you wrote this in bad faith, but there are many alternative chat applications and platforms mentioned during the video that are more secure than signal.
I agree, the title of the video is awful.
The author mentions many times how they support Signal, but we shouldnt just accept their excuses for the lack of advancement on certain issues just because it’s the most convenient option.
We should all switch to using one-time pads. Sure, it’s not as convenient, but I assume everyone will understand.
The alternative is clear: Matrix.
I think your family have a point to not listen to you if yoy previously switch them to shitty things like Signal.