[mkl95]

Whatsapp is extremely dominant in my country, but I keep encouraging friends and acquaintances to install Telegram. As far as I know, there won't be anything preventing FB from geoblocking European users when the company eventually gets in some serious trouble, like it just did in the US.

[jbverschoor]

Why telegram and not signal?

[another_kel]

Because few people care about privacy but many care about UI, UX & features. Telegram is better there than any other chat app by a susbstantial margin.

[Aachen]

This, unfortunately. Matrix (Element) is ever so sloowly getting there, it's slightly better than Signal now in some areas and worse in others, but neither (nor whatsapp or any other messenger) come close to Telegram.

Wire is also a good contender but they seem to have found that if you don't sell user data, there is little money to be made from personal accounts and are focusing more on business accounts. You can still register and use it as an individual, though (and I continue to do so). It has more features than Signal and isn't funded by Facebook so that's a plus, but the UX is slightly worse than Signal.

Makes you wonder what Telegram is going to make money with though. It's a huge liability for me, just so damn convenient... Need to find a better alternative.

[jbverschoor]

I like the UX of whatsapp / messenger.

Also, telegram isn’t private either afaik.

In terms of contact info.. I kind of like knowing who I’m talking with

[skyyler]

They're totally different apps! Signal's focus is 1-to-1 encrypted chats. Telegram's focus is broadcasting messages and group chats. One of them is a secure messenger, the other is a social media network on top of a messaging app.

[fsflover]

At least Telegram can be used on a desktop without installing it on a spyphone (though without e2e encryption).

I would say "why not Matrix?".

[mkl95]

Because Signal is virtually unknown here. Telegram has a small, but growing following. I'm aware that Telegram uses homegrown encryption which is not ideal.

[tapoxi]

Telegram doesn't use any encryption for groups. It uses encryption only in 1:1 chats when you specifically request it.

[fullstop]

The transfer to the server is certainly encrypted. You are referring to end-to-end encryption, I assume.

[tapoxi]

Correct, I'm referring to e2e. My personal trust model is not to trust the server.

[fullstop]

Right, I understand. It's still encrypted, though, just not in a way that you like.

[deepstack]

why Signal and not wire? (no sim card needed), No need to allow access to your address book to make group chat. Works in browser, ios, android, desktop app. Using signal protocol. And you can draw in it.

[kawfey]

why wire and not lockdown? why lockdown and not matrix? why matrix and not IRC on a self-hosted server? why IRC and not HF packet radio why HF packet radio and not OTP notes on flashpaper delivered by carrier pigeon?

this is the current problem i have with chat. there are too many options.

[Natales]

I've been using Wire for a few years and the experience is solid. No need for phone numbers anymore, just @handle, and it does multi-device encryption and backup. Its search is very fast, even for large number of messages. Good support for attachments and superb audio and video.

On the flip side, it's not very customizable and doesn't have a lot of the more "modern" UX goodies like emoji reactions or threads. But it's overall very good and I see no reason to change.

[tsjq]

Coz , if a lot of people use Signal, govts would surely want to peek into the chats

[bauerd]

Applies to every messenger

[langbot]

"geoblocking European users" is already happening. They recently announced some major API changes on the messenger platform that only affect user's from Europe or businesses based in Europe and gave developers about 2 weeks to make changes https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/euro...

[flak48]

When did FB geoblock users in the US?

[mkl95]

Sorry if my wording was unclear. The US part only referred to getting in trouble.

If you wonder why I think they may geoblock European users, it's mostly because that's how many American companies are dealing with GDPR (especially retail businesses, but also major media outlets).

[flak48]

My bad, sorry

[jokoon]

isn't signal better?