this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2024
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Privacy

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Just a post to say the goods of using SimpleX instead of others "private" messenger. First it doesn't not require any id, phone number, etc... Can create how many accounts that you want! Decentralized servers, everyone can run and use own servers, and communicate with others! Big privacy side! Look at this one of the best https://privacyspreadsheet.com/messaging-apps. The only negative is the usability of the app, this is why it needs support and be democratize to gain attraits to people, and maybe one day be one the most used messenger app...

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (3 children)

For 1:1 and small groups, XMPP is not as convenient + not as secure

[–] andylicious1337 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

but why isnt it secure? if you know that the other person is using the same version of omemo it is secure. and if you are self-hosting it, meta-data is no issue either

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Actually xmpp is low on metadata compared to matrix which has to replicate a bunch of metadata everywhere. SimpleX look interesting, though by not being federated (considered by simpleX a privacy feature) whether you like their client or not. Just so you know privacyguides has explained why they don't advertise xmpp as privacy oriented, and the reason is not that it isn't, it's simply that given it's federated, they consider some clients are not as compliant or up to date, which is up to the user to select on XMPP, and also up to the user to file bugs against their preferred client or even contribute it with changes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

My stance is that XMPP and Matrix are only private if you self host and don't federate. That really cuts down on who may want to use them, but it can be great for a small community, company, or family assuming you can get everyone to buy in.

[–] andylicious1337 1 points 1 month ago

thank you for the info. that clears up some doubts I had with xmpp :)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

My battery life & ability self-host on low-spec hardware is pretty convenient. When I talk to my bud on their own self-hosted, low-spec instance, the TLS+OMEMO is pretty secure since we don’t have to trust some third-party server provider with data/metadata.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Right, and completely agreed with that, but I think that SimpleX is just better in most cases (not on battery life for now), as it could be also self hosted

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

There is a cost aspect of self-hosting that one has to comtemplate. I haven’t looked at SimpleX hosting, but if it’s anything like Matrix on resources, it isn’t accessible or feasible even if it is possible.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I host a Simplex server, it is not that bad in terms of resources. My smp server is around 90 MB RAM and XFTP is 30 MB. Could be better, but still would run without problem on low-end hardware.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What about the storage & network costs?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I have not checked both, but seems like both are insignificant. From what I understand, the messages and files are only stored on the server until reception.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

How dare you criticize some 90's protocol no one uses