this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2024
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Unfortunately it’s difficult to get people to switch to it
And they didn't make it any easier by removing SMS support from the mobile app.
It was pretty easy to get a couple of my friends to switch by saying it's just another SMS client that also supports highly encrypted messaging with other people that use Signal. Now that it's standalone, nobody will even fucking touch it.
which is weird, I don't know any other country that still uses SMS other than the usa, for chatting.
it's for 2FA from banks (which are now switching to authenticator apps) and bulk scams mostly that I can see.
Canada. Now you know two! Granted, we are basically the 51st state at this point...
America's hat/touk!
I use sms quite a lot when network conditions are bad... with poor service (rural areas) or heavy congestion (sport events) SMS messages piggybacking on voice channels often stand a better chance of getting through than anything that requires an Internet data connection on 4G. That said I do have unusual use cases, the other 99% of the time normal messaging apps work fine.
I think it’s because texting became essentially free in North America long before it did in Europe. That, combined with the fact that it came preinstalled on EVERY phone (Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Palm, you name it), gave it enough inertia to stay dominant decades later.
"preinstalled". lol.
Yeah, I know it’s probably not the right word for this context, but downloading an app and creating an account is factually a huge barrier for entry, because people are lazy.
Yeah I got rid of Signal when they got rid of SMS because literally nobody I've ever met uses it and they're not gonna switch.
It's unfortunate, I had just gotten a few people to take it up.... but that progress is lost. People prefer convenience over all else and having to use 2 different primary message apps sucks.
If only they had functional data backup and export on non-Android platforms…