A new messaging app is in development, and the project is described as “an open source WhatsApp for the Fediverse.”

    • Lucia [she/her]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      2111 months ago

      Mobile-first, requires phone number, proprietary server-side, google play market.

        • Lucia [she/her]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          711 months ago

          Seems you edited your comment to add new points. Lemmy doesn’t notify users about changes to comments/posts they replied to, unfortunately.

          Phone numbers required for now. Usernames potentially on the horizon per sms removal update.

          Good to know. I prefer to never use my phone number for sign ups.

          Server side code is open source and available at Signal Server Github.

          They seem to put a lot of effort to centralize their app though - you can’t setup your own server and talk to other signal users.

          Android has an apk download so you dont need Google Play.

          Yes, but you need to figure out how to verify signature keys on android + manual updates, it’s just inconvinent if you compare it to F-Droid Signal devs so dislike for no good reason.

        • Lucia [she/her]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          411 months ago

          You still need to install a mobile app first. On XMPP I can create an account even if I don’t own a smartphone.

            • poVoq
              link
              fedilink
              511 months ago

              Yes, but its early days and only few clients support it. You can try it with Dino.

            • Lucia [she/her]
              link
              fedilink
              English
              211 months ago

              I dunno, never used video calls outside of college (and hell I hate that). I heard Jitsi can do it though, again never tried myself.

      • HidingCat
        link
        fedilink
        411 months ago

        I don’t see the problem with that, it’s a phone messenger first.

          • HidingCat
            link
            fedilink
            211 months ago

            Sure, definitely use what works for you. I do like it as a phone messenger that happens to have a functional desktop client (Telegram and surprisingly, Whatsapp do have better desktop clients).

    • Sean TilleyOPM
      link
      fedilink
      English
      1511 months ago

      Signal is great, but the core developer is inherently against federation with his own product. It’s just one giant centralized service.

    • @poop@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      4
      edit-2
      11 months ago

      Signal is too darn secure. Much better to have one dude who probably knows how to use a crypto library build the whole thing over again with a coat of ActivityPub on top

    • blanketswithsmallpox
      link
      fedilink
      311 months ago

      It feels like I’m doing shady backdoor deals. It’s only for the people I conspire with and really close friends…

      In which we just end up using regular old sms anyway lol.