this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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Asklemmy
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Most people I know use SMS/RCS/iMessage or Discord. My family uses Signal, but I don't know anyone else IRL that has even heard of it. I personally don't like Signal because they don't have some basic features, such as if you get a new phone, you need to export/import all of your old messages manually. If your old phone broke or your traded it in already, tough shit. If you log in on your laptop, afaik, there's no way to get your old messages from your phone. I know these were intentional design decisions to make it as secure as possible, but I would be fine with something being slightly less secure to have these QOL features.
Signal definitely has some room to improve with regard to backup/sync. It should probably never store your messages on its servers, which is what it would take for you to get your history back if you lose access to all your devices containing it, but it could allow you to keep the full history in sync across multiple devices without compromising its security guarantees.
Always interesting when I hear people's families use something other than the default in the US. What started that? Were your parents always concerned about privacy? Did you somehow convince them to use that app? What about when they text someone who isn't on signal, which is probably 90% of the US? I could get my family to download the app but I feel like it's pointless because no one else uses it so they would just quit.
I've been in the Cyber Security space for a few decades now and have all of my close family on Signal. It's another step in helping them understand what privacy options are out there and how to best protect themselves.
We've also managed to not have any of the more egregious social media platforms (Meta, X, TikTok, etc...) as well as VPN's on everything and PiHoles at the perimeter.
It sounds paranoid to most of the other families we know but, to each there own I suppose. And knowing the people in my household stand a chance against the ever persistent push of advertising / privacy invasion is worth sounding like a madman once in a while.
My parents were going out of the country where they wouldn't have cell access, and they just googled what to use. Signal is what came up first in a list they read online. They knew that they didn't like Facebook and wanted to avoid Whatsapp for that reason. After we made a family chat group, it just kind of stuck. If we want to send something to the whole family, we use that group. If we send something directly to each other, we still usually use SMS/RCS/iMessage.
Who convinced your family? I tried to do the same with my family and friends to no avail.
My dad, mostly. I just explained it in another comment.