Facebook to integrate WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger

Forums › Social networks, social media, and tools › Facebook to integrate WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger

dafman

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#245257 26-Jan-2019 10:13

Link to story here

Inevitable from the company with a rapacious appetite for harvesting your data and playing loose with your privacy.

I ditched Facebook after Cambridge Analytica but have reluctantly kept using WhatsApp as family are big users and it has end-to-end encryption (although, this is Facebook, so I took this claim with a pinch of salt).

I'll not migrate and, in some ways, I'm glad Facebook have forced my hand to fully disassociate from them.

ps. For those looking for a WhatsApp replacement - Signal is a great messaging app that does both SMS as well as end-to-end encrypted messaging (where both users have Signal).

Stu

Hammered
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#2167768 26-Jan-2019 10:31

According to the story you link to, it's only the messaging component of all three that will be linked, and the apps will remain standalone. It would be different if they were merging three apps into one.

While all three will remain stand-alone apps, at a much deeper level they will be linked so messages can travel between the different services.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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PolicyGuy

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#2167827 26-Jan-2019 12:18

So what are the alternatives apart from Signal?

Looks like I'll have to ditch WhatsApp and talk my kids out of it too :(

kobiak

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#2168014 26-Jan-2019 15:31

PolicyGuy: So what are the alternatives apart from Signal?

Looks like I'll have to ditch WhatsApp and talk my kids out of it too :(

viber, telegram, google duo

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sdavisnz

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#2168084 26-Jan-2019 17:52

Been using telegram instead of WhatsApp recently, really like it.

Voice gives context

dafman

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#2168091 26-Jan-2019 18:15

sdavisnz: Been using telegram instead of WhatsApp recently, really like it.

There are some security concerns with Telegram as all chats are stored on their servers - link here for discussion on both Signal and Telegram.

dfnt

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#2168096 26-Jan-2019 18:36

It's a shame Signal doesn't have an equivalent of web.whatsapp.com

I don't want to install software to use Signal on my non phone device

richms

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#2168099 26-Jan-2019 18:40

It will be hard to replace messanger if people leave it. I find it by far the best since I can log in on any device and have full chat history etc. Many people will not use google since they like to make it hard by killing products off every few years.

Ones like steams messaging are IMO totally useless since you only see some messages on some devices, and ones that only let you log in on one device are just stupid.

Richard rich.ms

ANglEAUT

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#2168211 26-Jan-2019 23:00

dfnt:

... I don't want to install software to use Signal on my non phone device

The software also seems to communicate using web sockets which our corporate proxy does not like.

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

ANglEAUT

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#2168215 26-Jan-2019 23:49

PolicyGuy: So what are the alternatives apart from Signal? ...

Nobody has mentioned VK yet (considering it's available in the Opera sidebar)

Signal has "the best" security & encryption implementation currently. Two things to be wary of that I have noticed:

It requires a mobile number similar to WhatsApp, but unlike Skype & Messenger where a digital handle is enough
Your number is registered in "a global"* database as a Signal user.
1. This means if you open the app for the first time, those contacts of yours that also use Signal will be already in the list of Signal contacts
2. If a contact of yours (i.e. that mobile number) starts using Signal, you will receive a notification of this new Signal user.
Wikipedia also mentions that iOS users can't backup & export their history.

* who knows if it's global or central or what ever, the point is that it still links your number to all the contacts in your address book.

There are also things to like about Signal

As mentioned above, good security & encryption; inspected & trusted by well known security experts out there.
All media shared as part of a chat are stored securely & not available to other apps on the phone.
List of linked devices (see mention of desktop app)
Dark theme
Registration lock PIN (i.e. PIN required if activating Signal on a new device with your account)
Blocking of screenshots (IIRC, I had to turn this on)
Incognito keyboard (request keyboard to disable personalised learning)
If this is your kinda thing, auto purge of old messages
If this is your kinda thing, disappearing messages after x seconds
WhatsApp comparable features
1. QR & plain text code to verify identity
2. Custom colours per contact chat = WhatsApp custom background
3. Custom ringtone & notification sounds per contact
4. Group chats
5. audio calling

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

Dratsab

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#2168221 27-Jan-2019 06:09

PolicyGuy: So what are the alternatives apart from Signal?

Looks like I'll have to ditch WhatsApp and talk my kids out of it too :(

I've been using Line [wikipedia link] to chat with friends in Thailand recently, my wife uses it a lot. virtually no-one over there uses SMS, they use this app.

Edit: very basic review of Line here. Useful in that it highlights some of the features.