Edit - y’all are awesome! I’m gonna check out all of these - thank you!!

–

A family member is moving out of country and convinced the best way to keep in touch is with WhatsApp. I really don’t want to install any Meta shit on my phone.

Any recommendation for a FOSS or other alternative from a company that’s less of an ethical dumpster fire?

  • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.comEnglish
    1·
    17 days ago

    As is the highest up vote, Signal. However, if you refuse to install WA (you should) and they refuse to install Signal (scold them for being dumb), a backup is to bridge WhatsApp with Matrix and use Element on your phone. Way more complicated than Signal and I still strongly recommend they use Signal.

    • geoma@lemmy.ml
      1·
      16 days ago

      Yeah but IMHO bridging whatsapp misses the point. We need people to start being aware and choosing conscious ethical pieces of software for the sake of humanity.

    • DankOfAmerica@reddthat.comEnglish
      1·
      17 days ago

      a backup is to bridge WhatsApp with Matrix and use Element on your phone

      Any recommendations on where to start learning how to set up a bridge like that?

  • LifeLemons@lemmy.mlEnglish
    1·
    18 days ago

    Signal or XMPP are good option

    XMPP may be a bit overwhelming as you need to select a provider and a client. Doesn’t require phone number.

    Signal is private and easy to use like whatsapp. Needs phone number to use.

    Telegram is cool but encryption isnt enabled by default, would like to avoid it for this. Cool for public groups.

    Edit: Teleram isnt good at all, dont use it. Look reason in the replies

    • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      1·
      18 days ago

      Telegram’s MTProto has, to my knowledge, never undergone any security audits. It’s a roll-your-own-encryption, which is always dubious when you’re unwilling to have it audited. I would never suggest Telegram, even for cleartext communications.

    • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      18 days ago

      Seconded - it even has a much better way of dealing with media attachments.

      Just make sure you configure a PIN and backups.

        • Schlemmy@lemmy.ml
          1·
          17 days ago

          Lemmy isn’t secure and that’s OK because it has a different use case. The owner of your instance has acces to all your messages.

          • DragonsInARoom@lemmy.world
            01·
            17 days ago

            Bruh, this is a privacy nightmare! Worse than Meta! No worse than everything! I am betrayed! I am bamboozled! I have said many things that can’t see the light of day! This is blacknail! What should I do now? Where do I go? What do I use? Who do I trust? If Lemmy isn’t secure than what does that mean for free speech within the rules? What does that mean for the transfer of ideas? What pressidemce does this set for the rest of the fediverse?!?!121 I must search my souls for the answer, maybe Anom I heard that they don’t spy on you.

  • HotCoffee@lemm.ee
    0·
    17 days ago

    SimpleX Chat, no phone number or e-mail registration needed. Truly a privacy pioneer.

  • jbaber@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    0·
    18 days ago

    For my family member who moved out of country, signal’s voice quality was not very good. WhatsApp’s quality was better than a regular phone call, very impressive.

    Also, outside the US WhatsApp is some kind of standard the way rich Americans think iMessage is. Companies will ask her to contact them on WhatsApp, so she’ll have to have it regardless of your personal involvement.

    There’s also jitsi.

    • riot@lemmy.world
      1·
      18 days ago

      Also, outside the US WhatsApp is some kind of standard the way rich Americans think iMessage is. Companies will ask her to contact them on WhatsApp, so she’ll have to have it regardless of your personal involvement.

      That really depends on the country that the family member is moving to, and is not an absolute thing world-wide.

    • Vitaly@feddit.uk
      1·
      18 days ago

      Do you think signal’s voice quality is not as good as whatsapp? It might be because they have less servers than whatsapp

      • mexicancartel@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        1·
        17 days ago

        Whatsapp and telegram calls are P2P for contacts by default. P2P might reduce call issues which i’m not sure signal does that or not

  • unknown1234_5@kbin.earth
    01·
    18 days ago

    I’d recommend just regular texting, but if for whatever reason you can’t/don’t want to the. matrix should work, it’s basically foss discord.

      • diffusive@lemmy.world
        1·
        17 days ago

        Otherwise you don’t get all operators being able to read your messages, all the vulnerabilities of SS7 (so not only your operator, any random dude with experience can read your messages)

        So many advantages!

        But it is compatible with iMessage that it is what really matters, really 😂

      • unknown1234_5@kbin.earth
        0·
        17 days ago

        not as an alternative to Whatsapp, I mean not bothering with an alternative to texting. there is no need for something like Whatsapp because everything it does is already part of just texting normally. Whatsapp is a texting alternative, and as such is pointless.