this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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Here in South Europe people mostly use Viber. Edit: I was very unaware about situation in Southern Europe as I've learned from this post... Most people in Croatia use Viber!

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[–] Zak@lemmy.world 35 points 1 year ago (3 children)

As an American living in Germany, I have:

  • Signal
  • Matrix
  • Discord
  • Whatsapp
  • Telegram
  • SimpleX
  • SMS via Google Voice for some very stubborn Americans

Everyone I know in Europe uses Signal or Whatsapp, often both. Sometimes when I suggest to Americans who live in the US that they should use one of those, they counter that I should buy an iPhone and use iMessage.

[–] tkk13909@sopuli.xyz 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

As a fellow American, fuck iMessage. I wish we were more like Europe in that regard.

[–] Zak@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I've even seen technically-sophisticated adults exclude people from group conversations for not having iPhones. The resistance to using anything else is weird. I'm even willing to add to the above list if somebody has a different preference that isn't the one thing not everyone can use.

[–] sunbeam60@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

With the Digital Market Act in the EU they’ll soon all be speaking to each other. Vestager is about to tear those messaging monopolies a new asshole!

[–] MaggiWuerze@feddit.de 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That sounds good, until you realize that your data will then end up with Meta after you specifically left all of their services.

[–] sunbeam60@lemmy.one 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

That’s a GDPR request away from deletion, at least in the EU (and for a while at least, the U.K.)

[–] MaggiWuerze@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago

I don't want them to have my data. It doesn't matter how easy it is to delete them. And basically every time someone scans their contacts I might get re-added to allow this cross functionality

[–] Shialac@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Its so weird how standardised the use of Apple Phones is in the US

[–] jelloeater85@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

How ya liking SimpleX? I'm just rocking Discord, Matrix for internet ppl WhatsApp and Telegram for RL ppl. Used to use Signal, but Telegram replaced it a while back for me. Way better feature set.

[–] Zak@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

SimpleX is interesting. Its complete lack of server-side profiles would be promising if I had something really secret to discuss, but I don't. It doesn't have a way to get timely notifications without keeping the CPU awake and draining the battery, so it's kind of a non-starter for general use.

What features do you prefer in Telegram? Few people I know use it and I just keep it around as an alternate because why not?

[–] jelloeater85@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I like the fact that my messages are on in sync on all my devices. Yeah, it's not E2E, but it's good enough for just chatting with friends and family. I like how easy it is to send photos on it. Also being able to edit messages is nice for when you fat finger stuff.

And yeah, SimpleX seems like some spy level shit, neat though. I used Signal for a few years, back when it had SMS support.

[–] Zak@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Signal does stay in sync between my laptop and phone, but I think if I wanted more than that it would not be easy to achieve. Message editing was added in a recent update, and it seems to be as easy to send photos via Signal as any other messaging app (I can't remember if it was ever difficult).

I've become more insistent about E2EE for anything I rely on lately because big platforms have been scanning "private" conversations for content some computer program guesses violates their policies. Someone I know recently got a suspension from Facebook (yes, they're probably worse than other platforms) for a joke sent to a friend in chat years prior. That took it from an abstract they could to a concrete they do.

[–] jelloeater85@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, fuck Facebook. I don't trust them for shit.

[–] Zak@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

No doubt they're the worst, but will Discord do the same thing? I wouldn't be shocked. Will Telegram? If they get enough pressure from governments because of people talking about doing bad things over Telegram, they probably will.

So now if I'm using anything that isn't E2EE, I find myself thinking about whether dark humor or hypothetical self defense scenarios will get my flagged by some algorithm. People act differently when they're being watched.

[–] Asudox@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Are you using Telegram for its privacy and E2EE or just for the features. Because Telegram sure is not private nor does it have any E2EE unless you specifically select to be in a "secure chat" with someone.

[–] jelloeater85@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Nah, just for the features. It's secure enough for just chit chat. I only use the secure message chat when I need to send documents to family. I just like that they have clients on every platform, including Linux.