Have just installed e.os on the familys second phone, being en route away from big-corp datamining and tracking. Being neither a techie nor very interested in digitalisation as such (rather how to keep my peace of mind and freedom staying away from it:) it has been a little challange, but with great support from this forum amo!
Now trying to find good app alternatives for messangers and videocalls (instead of whatsapp, messenger, skype, facetime)
Have scanned the forum for alternatives, but could need some more input.
Video calls
This is mainly for staying in contact with grandparents far away, so must be brutally easy to install, setup and use. Today we use WhatsApp.
Chatgroups/messenger
Mainly for smaller groups to stay in easy contact (book circle, sportsgroup) Today a multitude of applications for different groups (WhatsApp, Messenger, infoping, among others) Good thing to keep it seperate from SMSapp and email. Not a big thing for everyone to change to another application, but again needs to be easy install, easy set up, intuitive.
a) Signal. Tried it out. Didnt like to have all contacts uploaded to their server.
b) Wire. Read about some concerns about being sold out to less confident company, and some misbehavior when in use?
c) Elemnt. The âmatrixâ setup sounds interesting, but way to complicated.
Thanks for help and reply! shelter looks like a perfect transition option. Found your [howto] with good and clear steps. But failed on the step âpush old backup with filetransfer to workprofileâ
How do i do the pushing?
Thanks! The telegram seem to be exactly whats i was looking for. Have installed and tested on family with good outcome. Until the whatsapp groups are convinced and transfered to telegram, i will try to get whatsapp to work in shelter as states above.
I used to do that, but it caused problems with TWRP backups. (Either the backup or restore of data partition would fail, canât remember which now ) Now I use it without Shelter, but I donât give it access to my contacts. It works fine with existing groups and individuals. New people can call me, bit I canât add a new person or group.
I use Conversations mainly for video calls (does Telegram do them?)
The advantage of XMPP is that you can choose your own server and donât have to use the ones set up by Telegram or Signal.
Even if Conversations were to change in ways you donât like, you could simply move away to another app such as aTalk, keeping the same XMPP identity.
Just looked into Jitsi Meet, it seems to be geared towards video conferences between several people, and doing this very well. Apparently it is also possible to have alternative servers, even your own using a Raspberry Pi!
Will stick with Conversations for one-to-one calls, as it is set up nicely now.
You may be interested in this, I am currently in the process of converting over to this:
Jitsi for video meetings.
Conversations for both text messages and for group chats. (On the linux desktop can use something like Gajim, and can also use a web browser to log into the server, in order to continue texting, all text conversations are synced across all those platforms.)
Linphone for phone calls. (Eventually plan to switch over to Conversations for phone calls as well.)
Using jmp.chat to get a phone number for the phone. With a phone number from jmp.chat, I can call/receive calls and text/receive SMS/MMS texts to/from anyone using Conversations and Linphone. Also, with this plan I will be attempting to get by on a data only plan (0 minutes calling, 0 texts each month) of 2 GB per month for $10/month from a wireless carrier using the Verizon network.
@Pinback
Yes Telegram does Video Calls, Video Messages, and Video Chats.
Telegram servers are distributed among multiple countries and legal jurisdictions.
So are the keys. So Telegram is decentralized while all Signal servers are centralized in the U.S.
If you donât like Telegram but want to stick with the Telegram/MTProto protocol, there are 12 more apps based on Telegram to choose from.
You can also self-host Apps like Nebula which use the Telegram/MTProto protocol
@stuma
Telegram does Video Calls, Video Messages, and Video Chats.
Voice Chats & Groups Chats
Telegram servers are distributed among multiple countries and legal jurisdictions.
So are the keys. So Telegram is decentralized while all Signal servers are centralized in the U.S.
Hi. Apart from Telegram that was suggested by someone else, thereâs Signal as well. Its look and feel is similar to WhatsApp and Telegram, but is one of the outstanding tools in terms of privacy. Since recently, Signal is allowing group (video) calls as well.
) Now I use it without Shelter, but I donât give it access to my contacts. It works fine with existing groups and individuals. New people can call me, bit I canât add a new person or group.
I will strive to come off the whatsapp asap!