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by stackghost 144 days ago
Signal is an interesting case study in UX failure. I and a bunch of other tech forward people were on it in its heyday but after they removed SMS support and implemented shitty UX like that nag dialog: Neither I nor a single person I know uses it any more. Everyone is on Whatsapp or iMessage.

It may be cryptographically superior, but does that matter at the end of the day if nobody uses it?
4 comments
ale42 144 days ago
Cryptographical superiority aside, Signal doesn't collect personal data, unlike Whatsapp. For me that's the main reason to use it. The UX is good enough, although some points can for sure be improved.
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alex1138 144 days ago
Whatsapp should be a non starter. What Mark Zuckerberg did to Whatsapp should be required reading for anyone using the internet, and then decide if you still want to use Facebook (never mind, they build a shadow profile for you anyway)

"It's time. Delete Facebook" isn't subtle https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/09/26/exclusive...

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mystraline 144 days ago
That needs spelled out.

Delete: Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Meta, Threads, Manus.

Most people think of Facebook and Messenger when they see "Delete Facebook". Thats also why the rest dont have Meta or FB in their name.

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nxtbl 144 days ago
Sounds like they just don't care about privacy, do they? Guess showing them https://i.redd.it/0imry50rxy961.png still won't change anything..
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stackghost 144 days ago
That is a thoroughly unconvincing graphic, yeah.

A few of my neighbors have kids the same age as my kids, they're on a WhatsApp group chat, and my choice is either use WhatsApp or make my kid miss out on social events, so it's not really a choice.

"Hey let's switch to this app that nobody else is using and it sends you annoying popups every month but trust me bro it's more secure" is not a winning argument

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amatecha 144 days ago
The graphic has an error: in the Signal box, "Phone number" should be included.
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direwolf20 144 days ago
WhatsApp isn't any better, it's just more popular.
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TheChaplain 144 days ago
> It may be cryptographically superior, but does that matter at the end of the day if nobody uses it?

I've made a few attempts to convert people, but no-go. People stay on Telegram and WhatsApp because they have better UX and features.

Signal refuses to see the value in good attractive UX.

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