After long years of development Tox is getting better and better. There are clients for every plattform too. Somehow Tox is often overlooked.
Here is an overview of IM apps from Rob Braxman: Best Secure Instant Messaging Apps for 2021 , with recommendations which one fits which user case.
So they did indeed publish it. Here you can find information about the Threema/Open Source topic:
https://threema.ch/de/open-source
And here specifically is the source code for Threema Android:
Licence is AGPL 3.0. However signing a CLA is required if you want to contribute, which personally I find discouraging, but itâs a relatively common procedure.
You still have to pay to use it, since the self-compiled one cannot be used to generate Threema IDs, which is a bit of a let-down. Personally I donât have a problem with paying for it, but it will still limit distribution, since there are many people who will not get it if they have to pay for it.
Anyway, the closed source argument against Threema does not seem valid anymore. The only real argument against is the price, I guess.
Hereâs an interesting tool to aid in having others move away from WhatsApp.
Watomatic - IzzyOnDroid Repository - https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/com.parishod.watomatic
Hi,
I was wondering if somewhere in the forum there is a survey to understand how the switch went ⊠perhaps I have missed it, and this post should be moved elsewhereâŠ
I do not know if it is only my curiousity, but, how many /e/OS users have moved away from Whatsapp? What was the outcome?
Just to share some experience, like @Roger did:
I used Whatsapp because âeverybody uses it to stay in touchâ (I guess you have already heard such a type of answerâŠ), although I had Signal installed (and very few of my contacts were there, close to noneâŠ).
Purpose: mainly to stay in touch with friends and acquaintances that live in other countries, and in a cheap and convenient way.
Action plan: beginning of January I wrote a Whatsapp message to some of my contacts that I would leave Whatsapp, and proposed some alternatives (Signal, mails, SMS, calls). Please note that I had not informed all my contacts, and I had not called them one by one to persuade them. 3 weeks later, I closed my Whatsapp account and deleted the app (including the vast majority of the images/videos I had received over the years).
Balance (just to give an idea, as the rough values below are not statistically significant) :
- about 40% had not reacted
- about 40% moved to Signal (with some dispertion in their behaviour, from immediately installing it as a reaction to my message, to doing it only after some days/weeks)
- about 20% have replied that they would see how to keep in touch (and I am still waiting)
- about 8% have replied that they would keep in touch by SMS / phone (and it has happened as they said)
- about 8% have replied that they would keep in touch by mail
Conclusions:
Advantages: a great sense of relief. Because 1) No more Whatsapp and relevant issues 2) I no longer receive so-called funny videos/jokes and so on (since it is nice to received few of them from time to time, but I despise the massive forwarding of such [useless] messages, when I think about networks clogged up and a potential wiser usage of resourcesâŠ)
Regrets: A fair share has not yet tried to keep in touch⊠although only few weeks have passed / âno news, good newsâ / they have my phone number and mail address when they need / want to contact me
I guess it is a good summary. I would like to understand if it makes sense / it is useful to have a survey capturing all this, from /e/OS users, that I believe have similar concerns than me⊠or if it is only my curiosity
Hi @sonyxa2,
of course it would be nice to know. But would it help? Would statistics help you arguing with people that have not replied? I think every person you or me are connected with is an individual problem.
Let me update my experiences, what happened since igonoring Whatsapp
-
I created a webpage explaining why not using Whatsapp anymore and showing alternatives. I posted that link into the whatsapp groups and said "I will not be using whatsapp anymore, read why and alternatives here: "
-
Some good friends followed immediately.
-
From January 2021 on lots of friends I thought being lost turned to Signal or Telegram (thanks to the new rules of Whatsappđ)
-
One person I communicate with SMS or email
-
One person I communicate with voice-call
-
About 10 âinactive contactsâ lost
Did my life get more complicated? The difference on the smartphone is only moving the finger 5 mm into another direction (SMS, Telegram, Signal, Phonecall)
Hope this helps?
Regards,
Roger
Hi @Roger,
I agree that it would not help ⊠but perhaps it would make me confirm that there are people more conscious of privacy than my contacts ⊠in some ways, it hurts, but it is like that, and I have to accept it.
I am just curious to see what will happen after May, when the new rules should be apply⊠perhaps who wanted to switch have already done it, and the remaining will accept themâŠ
Letâs wait and see.
Have a good day
Is that web page still available? I would be interested as I am still working to convince one of the groups that is important to me, and more evidence / ammunition would be useful. Thanks
@petefoth: Still online. But donÂŽt want to generate traffic to my webpage So I give you the text here. It is in german. Maybe use an automatic translation thing or something. Have to point out that it only reflects my personal opinion, and is no âmarketing-proofâ thing. Here is the text:
Ade Whatsapp## Warum?
Warum? âIch habe doch nichts zu verbergenâŠâ Standardaussage von Leuten die keine Lust haben ihre Komfortzone zu verlassen. Lasst es mich kurz fassen um Grundsatzdiskussion zu vermeiden: âAber ich!â.
In einem Internet dass immer mehr drei groĂen Konzernen zu gehören scheint (Google, Facebook, Amazon), möchte ich wenigstens versuchen, diesen drei Unternehmen so lange wie möglich den Stinkefinger zu zeigen!
Unternehmen mit KRAKEN-Armen zu vermeiden hat bei mir schon Tradition:
Amazon
Mein Amazon-Konto habe ich schon vor Jahren gekĂŒndigt: es gibt auch andere gute Online-Versandhandel.
Ein Facebook-Konto habe ich nie wirklich gehabt (14Tage Testlauf, dann wieder gelöscht). Den Sinn von Facebook habe ich nie verstanden.
Google-Suchmaschine
Google: Die kommerzielle Suchmaschine von Google verabscheue ich schon lange (Alternativen: âmetager.deâ, âduckduckgo.comâ, âstartpage.deâ).
Google-Telefon
Android: Auf meinem alten Telefon habe ich diverse WĂ€chter installiert (Netguard, TrackerControl). Ich war geschockt wo Google und Facebook alles hinfunken und vor allen Dingen⊠WAS sie alles funken. Jetzt habe ich erstmalig auf einem anderen Android-Telefon ein alternatives Betriebssystem installiert: âe-foundationâ. Das ist Android OHNE Google. LĂ€uft prima.
Achtung: Wer Trackercontrol oder Netguard ausprobieren will, sollte es KEINESFALLS ĂŒber den Playstore von Google tun. Die Apps dort sind fĂŒr Google angepasst worden. Nehmt F-Droid.org
Microsoft
Microsoft: Auf sĂ€mtlichen privaten Rechnern bei mir zuhause lĂ€uft Linux. Empfehlenswert fĂŒr Umsteiger: âLinux Mintâ. Aktuell liebĂ€ugel ich mit âTailsâ und âCubeOsâ.
Microsoft auf Firmenrechner: Nachdem ich immer wieder Stunden investiert habe Windows 10 lauffĂ€hig zu halten (nur um weiter Excel, Word und PowerPoint nutzen zu können)bin ich kurz davor, Windows 10 in eine virtuelle Maschine innerhalb von Linux zu verpackenâŠ
Whatsapp: Gehört auch zu Facebook. Muss also auch weg⊠Ihr seht, Whatsapp zu deinstallieren ist nur eine konsequente Weiterentwicklung bei dem Weg, den ich bereits eingeschlagen habe: Den groĂen Internetkonzernen den Stinkefinger zeigen.
Klingt interessant?
Ihr möchtet den Weg auch einschlagen? Ihr habt Lust zu fachsimpeln?
Ich gebe mein Wissen gerne weiter
Nutzt die Euch bekannten KomminikationskanÀle⊠ausser Whatsapp
Forgive my manners, but if someone get offended by so little, itâs their problem, not yours, and those that do really care to talk to you, will at least download the new app you decided to use.
I would love to delete WhatsApp but everyone around me is using it and they wont switch, so Iâm stuckâŠ
⊠and therefore nobody would move away (that would apply in other situations as well).
Yes, I agree with you that it is the risk (but not a certainty), and it is up to everyone to take it or not (based on their own considerations)
Mark Zuckerberg uses Signal.
If itâs true. How sweet :-))))
Since January Iâve been using Signal and have convinced my family and friends to use it too.
Iâm going to delete Whatsapp (for good) on May 15, a bit symbolic because I could have done it earlier, but I hope that a lot of users do the same so that Facebook feels there are a lot of people not agreeing to the new terms.
A new version of Delta Chat is live! And itâs compatible with new email providers!
You donât need to create an account, just use your email credentials. If, on the other side, your contact does not have Delta Chat, he/she will just receive a normal email.
On your side, delta Chat messages are stored inside a separate folder.
Me too. Iâm officially WhatsApp-less But now I left some WA groups, and it got very silent. just the family chat made the transition.
delta.chat 1.20 is now available in the fdroid store (thereâs a few days delay, they do the apk signing offline). I gave the âmail compatibilityâ a try, it works and I think is a good idea on delta.chats part for adoption/popularity to include it.
Plaintext mail with image attachments you send from another mail client appears nicely in the chat view. If you reuse your pgp key, itâs also multi-device/-app end to end encrypted.
It can replace k9mail for most, as the chat-view is just too useful on a handheld. I think desktop mail clients should also adopt the chat-view, I know one that tried, but it went inactive (âivelopeâ).