So I’m in a somewhat unfortunate situation. My circle of friends doesn’t want to switch to another messenger and we are currently stuck on the worst possible platform for security: Telegram.
The problem is that it is very hard to convince anyone to switch, if they are all perfectly fine and like Telegram. I mean I can get why they like it: The UX and UI of Telegram are amazing and there are well functioning clients available for any platform. It has more features and gimmicks than any other messenger I know BUT it lacks one mayor thing: E2EE. And that’s mostly what I care about. The second problem is that I was the person who recommended the switch to Telegram right after WhatsApp was bought by Facebook. I know, that was a bad recommendation, but back then I didn’t know shit about privacy or why E2EE mattered. I was just like “Hey, it’s not by Facebook, so it must be better”. And now everyone I know is there and won’t leave.
If - in the hypothetical situation of me setting an ultimatum and deleting my Telegram after that - I wanted to make them switch somewhere else: What messenger would that be? Currently I’m mostly thinking Signal. I know it’s not perfect either, it is centralized, and the servers are in the US, but it has a bigger user base already than most of its competitors like Threema or Matrix/Element and it is very easy to set up and use. I’m already a user of Signal, Threema, Matrix, WhatsApp and Telegram (every platform for some contacts, but most of them on Telegram sadly), so having yet another option is not a problem for me, as well as getting rid of one is also no problem. I’d love to delete both Telegram and WhatsApp in this move.
So, in conclusion, what I need is a messenger that has all or most of the following:
- best possible security (E2EE is minimum)
- easy to use (no complicated setup, simple UI)
- already has some users (not too niche)
- cross-platform and multi-device (should run on Android, iOS and Windows/Web)
- some flashy dumb features like stickers and so on to keep them entertained
My choice would be Signal. But I am unsure if that is the best choice or if I should just wait a bit and see what all of the new EU laws about messengers and gatekeepers bring to the game and if anything chances with that.
Nothing beats Telegram in terms of UI and UX. Signal is your best bet for a source-available app (well, source-available most of the time anyway) in terms of usability, but you won’t convince anyone to leave Telegram over its barebones UI.
WhatsApp is probably your next best bet in terms of privacy versus usability. I know, I know, Facebook Bad, but WhatsApp uses the same protocol Signal does with the same restrictions on server side decryption, and its apps are actually designed for mass market adoption rather than to please the niche privacy aware crowd.
I want Matrix or XMPP to succeed, but most XMPP apps are rather weird (especially OK desktop) and Matrix apps have this permanent “if only they can get the details right” feel. Maybe when the next round of rewrites finishes, the Matrix apps will be good for the general public. However: Matrix is set up to do encryption the Right Way which involves verifying each other’s accounts Matrix also leaks significant amounts of metadata, and XMPP too but to a smaller extent, but Signal doesn’t.
In half a year or so, the IETF will finish its RFC standard for cross-messenger interaction. It has already described a standard for messenger independent end-to-end encryption. If you can wait another year, you may want to see how that all plays out.
The bottom line seems to be “Signal is your best bet for privacy” but it’ll be hard to convince people to switch when WhatsApp is right there and has pretty much the same safety guarantees Signal does, but with a better UI.
Telegram clients also technically have source available, even if late.
I know, but their server doesn’t. And since everyone uses it without the secret chats feature, they could read every message we exchange.
Telegram has started it’s Enshittification phase now. They put stuff in the user interface to try and push you to pay for it.
And they have some weird crypto scams running in the background as well.
I don’t think WhatsApp is a good option. Their clients are not Open Source, so it’s unknown if they really implement all the privacy features of the Signal client. Also, Facebook and WhatsApp are known to collect every single bit of Metadata they can get, it’s really bad. I wouldn’t touch it again, under any circumstances. I’m glad that nobody I know uses it, at least inside my circle of friends. Some still use it for outside connections or family members.