this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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[โ€“] [email protected] 136 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I only use it because there's no way I could convince my friends and family to move to anything else.

There's no point in switching to another app if I then literally couldn't communicate with the people I need to through it.

[โ€“] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

I've been using Beeper a month or two. They had a long waiting list, and initially it was subscription only, but they are working on smashing through the waiting list and have changed to a freemium model where you get it for free and (eventually) they will have extra features for subscribers.

Basically, it's one chat app that connects to lots of different chat services.

If you're technical, the app is a fork of Element, and the service uses matrix bridges to connect to different chat services, but it's all presented in a (somewhat) polished way. The wait list is because they are still struggling with scaling and quirks but if you're on Lemmy you're probably already well familiar with putting up with this.

It covers heaps of chat networks. Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Signal, Telegram, and more. It also will let you SMS (unlike Signal ๐Ÿ˜ฌ).

You can also connect to Matrix rooms but you don't seem to be able to connect to an existing Matrix account (it uses a Beeper matrix account to connect).

It doesn't do video/audio calls so they recommend you leave the original app installed and disable message notifications (but leave on call notifications) if you use this.

[โ€“] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

app is closed source :/

Looks cool though

[โ€“] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Yep. But if you're keen on this stuff, you can self host matrix and the bridges and do it yourself. Their bridges are open source, just not their apps whose features are their business model.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 117 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Wait until you hear how many people use facebook messenger.

[โ€“] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago
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[โ€“] [email protected] 106 points 1 year ago (9 children)
[โ€“] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago (14 children)

The thing it's missing the most is better multi device support and an updated desktop client.

For me, I think Matrix is more complete (specially since it backs-up your chats and media encrypted). The only thing it's lacking (at least Element specific) is encrypted chat search support on mobile.

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[โ€“] Asswaterpirate 71 points 1 year ago (11 children)

I wish people would stop using the Crowder meme template.

[โ€“] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[โ€“] [email protected] 63 points 1 year ago (17 children)

Eh, whatsapp isn't ideal and its owner is one of the big devils of today, but it's the only way to send and receive instant messages among billions of people. I despise it, but it's the only way I can contact people. Needless to say, they don't give a single flying fuck about privacy.

Whatsapp outages make people migrate to Telegram for 1-2 days at most, nobody ends up staying there. Signal? I've only ever met three other people in RL who have even heard of it, and I work in IT.

A more apt comparison would be to languages. Whatsapp is english: clunky, weird, full of nonsense, but it's what "everyone talks". Signal would probably be lojban or esperanto.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 46 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Chrome is the Internet Explorer of the browsers.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 46 points 1 year ago (5 children)

SMS is IE, Whatsapp is Chrome, and Signal is Firefox. Use Signal/Firefox.

[โ€“] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I disagree. IE was incredibly proprietary, and SMS is at least an open standard.

IE is...idk Facebook messenger or Imessage or something.

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[โ€“] Phegan 45 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Steven Crowder is a garbage human and doesn't deserve a meme template

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[โ€“] Joris 41 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Nah. SMS and iMessage are the IE of messaging. Unsafe and locked in.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago (14 children)

Fuck Steven Crowder and any meme based on his bullshit

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[โ€“] [email protected] 38 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Look, I hate Facebook just as much as the next guy. But I live in The Netherlands and it's the primary way I can contact literally everyone I know. So changing to another messaging app is hard here.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago

Steven Crowder is the wife abuser of the meme world.

[โ€“] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago (20 children)

signal and telegram are so much better, don't know why we can't get over that shit app

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[โ€“] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[โ€“] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In some countries like India, people just assume that everyone uses whatsapp. It's gotten to the point where whatsapp has become the definition of messaging (for most people).

I don't see how Whatsapp is outdated to the point where one would compare it to IE, but I'll say whatsapp is more like Google Chrome than IE.

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[โ€“] Amilo159 31 points 1 year ago

Except it does nearly everything any other messaging app does, so there really is no need to force a switch. Unlike Internet Explorer, that used outdated rendering engine making it both slow and buggy, it was unsafe as it used ActiveX, didn't support ad-blockers it actually broke or didn't open most new website.

[โ€“] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

I hope that the DMA gets passed in the EU. It'll (hopefully) break the monopoly worldwide

[โ€“] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Interoperability is a weird one though. Imagine WhatsApp can connect to Signal, and people use this feature. What would then be the point of using Signal, if WhatsApp gets the data after all?

(Signal has already announced not wanting to support this, I just used it as an example)

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[โ€“] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Its privacy is very questionable, but how is it outdated?

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[โ€“] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (6 children)

WhatsApp seems very conservative with adding new features. I generally feel the features they do decide to add are all pretty useful. Telegram on the other hand doesn't ever seem to slow down with the new features. Many of them seem great, but just as many I would never use. I'm still wondering why Telegram won't introduce end-to-end encryption as a default.

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[โ€“] WiildFiire 22 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Op thinks only the USA exists apparently

[โ€“] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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[โ€“] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Can we further compress this meme template to the point that nobody could possibly tell it's Stephen Crowder in it

[โ€“] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

here you go:

it's 5.6 kB webp

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[โ€“] kaden_99 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I never have any problems Whatsapp. My messages get sent and I receive messages no problem.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I'd say Viber is worse (unbearably slow, has ads), and it's the most used messaging app in Ukraine which just sucks. (basically everyone has it)
people are slowly switching over to Telegram but it still has less then 50% market share...

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[โ€“] WaterChi 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Whatsapp is still supported

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[โ€“] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (14 children)

Matrix or Signal only for me. nobody uses Whatsapp here in the states, sms is simply insecure in every way, and telegram has very suspicious roots imo, along with a lack of e2ee and a terrible ui.

signal is the most secure option and matrix is federated making it the most "open" option.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (15 children)

Iโ€™ve somehow never used WhatsApp.

[โ€“] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You must not be from Europe or Brazil then

pls send help
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[โ€“] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Someone has not used Line...

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[โ€“] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (9 children)

Except people at one point realized that IE is shit and switched to better alternatives. I don't see this happening with WhatsApp - everyone and their great grandfather uses it and all other messengers are niche occurrences

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