holy crap. i went in with an open mind and it just got worse and worse as I kept reading.

i hope whatever AI firm commissioned this propaganda at least paid well.

weirdly my first thought just now was “wouldn’t it be cool if we could federate this somehow”. have a single (or a handful) of secure communication protocol(s) so that users could just choose the app with the UI they liked best and be done with it.

…then I realized I just essentially invented matrix and that already exists. lol. but yeah the issue is getting everyone to the same place.

its impossible to get some people to move from a platform they’ve used for over a decade in most cases.

nope I fully understand it. completely. and when they removed it, they removed my need for their app. as suddenly I went from being able to message everyone, to being able to message just 2 people.

it no longer fits my needs. so it isn’t used by me or by both of the people that were leftover after the sms turn off. as they had the same reaction I did.

so that’s that, I suppose.

it does make sense, actually. as they had that function when the app was first around. why do you think they have you sign up with a phone number in the first place?

also, it’s not on me to solve every technical hurdle you make up. if you want to learn more about Spam Prevention methods, I can point you to some resources if you’re truly interested.

I’m sorry that not everyone thinks Signal is a god app worthy of worship. its a message app, and its not the only one. it does stuff some people don’t like. including me.

no we are all on different platforms. half are on android and half are on apple which is irritating. so sadly the sms is our best tool to hit everyone at the same time with any urgency.

we used to be fine with candles and stinky lanterns filled with perfectly good kerosene too. who tf needs electricity? 🤨

on the topic of family connection, I can’t speak to your family experience. only my own. and our family group chat is pretty damn active.

Spam prevention? Ive got spam on Signal. Having your phone number be the barrier of entry doesn’t make Signal a flawless app.

and considering i can just plug a google voice number in, I’m not sure its the best barrier.

Signal is not capable of SMS and quite a lot of people still use it.

yes, i know SMS isn’t secure at all. but if the option is “keep in touch with close family” or “don’t keep in touch” they will probably choose the former if they want to keep that.

using the phone number is still a pretty unnecessary risk, imho.

there’s no real need for it any longer.

oh I disabled my “smart” TV’s ability to connect to the internet. its a dumb TV now.

it made the mistake of showing me a banner ad while I was gaming. so I promptly cut its balls off in retaliation.

exactly. so I’m wondering what the purpose is for its need.

(edit: apologies- the phone number. needing the phone number.)

if they need my phone number to have an account anyway, they can offer both.

i dont need more apps that do the same thing. i need less.

signal requires a phone number and won’t even allow you to send sms to those that aren’t on signal.

its better, but still not great.