• Kevin@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Signal works. The adoption is fairly slow, but I’ve had friends slowly begin to use it.

      • ono@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Signal gets some things right, but others wrong, such as phone numbers and centralized architecture. As such, it doesn’t fit the “everybody wants to use” part.

        • akilou@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          WhatsApp uses phone numbers and a centralized architecture. Remind me how many people use it?

          • toastal@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            Seeing how the dumb community feels trapped now that Meta stopped supporting KaiOS, I can tell there are a lot of people that wish they could leave the service. A lot of spaces make you feel like you have to use it, not want to use it. I used a few months while I was in the UK, but after that I’ve been lucky enough to delete my account as the service was useless elsewhere where other places I lived, no one used it.

            …That said, I now have issues with LINE as a defacto chat option locally that gets in the way. My account was crushed after they canceled LINE Lite which was 10× smaller with no bloat or trackers & I refused to “upgrade” (where like WhatsApp & Signal, one is forced to have a mobile device as a primary device). Largely I can inconvenience everyone by making them choose a different means of communication (with email be largely the only common denominator) but if I were dating again, I would inevitably be forced to use the unsafe app putting myself in the position a lot of WhatsApp users feel they are without effective choice.

          • ono@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            “some people use” ≠ “everybody wants to use”

            (And are you sincerely suggesting WhatsApp, which is run by one of the largest and most aggressive privacy invaders the world has ever known, as a privacy friendly application? I would suggest re-thinking that position if you want to be taken seriously.)

            • akilou@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              The guy I replied to is saying that not everyone wants to use Signal because it’s centralized and based on phone numbers. But billions of people use WhatsApp despite being exactly that. Signal nails the privacy stuff but obviously people don’t give a shit because they’re using WhatsApp anyway.

        • EngineerGaming@feddit.nl
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          1 year ago

          Plus the arbitrary requirement of a mobile device as a primary, so it would be either inconvenient Signal-cli or something like Waydroid.

      • akilou@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        I’ve been using Signal since like 2016 and have not seen any appreciable adoption rate whatsoever within my social network.

        I used to actively try to get people to use it but I got enough ambivalent or negative responses that I just stopped asking.

          • akilou@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            Exactly. And I gave up trying even when it was “easier”. Not to mention, since it can’t do SMS anymore, I actually helped my mom. stop using it, because then she’d need 2 different messaging apps. She and I now use Google Messages to text and whatever Google is calling the integrated video chat app now.

          • IronKrill@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            Yeah, a new messaging app is definitely a hard sell for me if it’s data/wifi only. I have Discord for unimportant internet conversations that can wait for me to burn data and texting for important things like work because I get unlimited texts. Having a separate app for a couple of people would be annoying.

        • driveway@lemmy.zip
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          11 months ago

          I seriously don’t understand the resistance. It doesn’t lack any features, people have 40 thousand apps on their phone anyway - just install one more if you want to talk to me?

      • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        My biggest problem with Signal is how much battery it uses when you don’t have Google services on your phone.

        It easily uses 30-40% of my battery compared to the rest.

      • Anonymouse@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Signal is great. I miss when it worked with SMS. There are 2 E2EE SMS apps that I’m aware of, bit one is not well supported and the other needs quite a bit of UI work before it’s usable by the general public. Also, neither can be used as the default SMS app on Apple phones,but that’s not the app’s fault.

      • Nithanim@programming.dev
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        1 year ago

        My problem is that it does not work on multiple devices at the same time, so I have personally given up on it. Maybe it has changed, did not check for a long time.

    • LainOfTheWired@lemy.lol
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      1 year ago

      We got reasonably close with signal, but I know what you mean. I’ve had friends think I was some sort of escaped convict just because I’d rather use Matrix to chat instead of FB.

    • Otter@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Signal feels the closest, it’s basically equivalent to other messaging apps. Somewhat cleaner and easier to use IMO

      The only downside is chat backups for people coming from Messenger, in particular those on iOS devices. Streamlining that process might get me to go “contact me on signal, I don’t check messenger often”, but right now I get why there’s a last bit of friction with my friends

      WhatsApp has a similar limitation but they walk you through the backups process. Even then, they limit backups to google drive iirc. Signal could do something similar, but much better by explaining the process and opening up backup locations

    • Corroded@leminal.space
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      1 year ago

      Some of the hurtles I’ve encountered using privacy focused chat apps with friends and family is the lack of smooth group chats and adding people remotely.

      Some apps have a QR code feature but also allow you to enter a code. It can be a challenge to setup with older family members.

      • wincing_nucleus073@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        boomers will always complain and cry.

        in their minds, they should be able to buy a device and when they open it up, it should already come pre-installed with their granddaughter’s name and contact ready to go through a mind reading technology that knows that knows who bought the device and knows who exactly they want to talk to and when.

        Star Trek on steroids or something idk.

    • MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The problem here is that a really private application would be p2p over i2p/TOR, but with people behind CG-NAT that is becoming quite troublesome

      • AtmaJnana@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Banks in the US use Open Banking APIs too, they won’t open it up for the public to use, though. Every company, not just banks, wants us to have their app on our phone.

      • kpw@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        This seems to be more of bank-to-bank protocol than a bank-to-customer protocol.

        • feef@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I was developing these apis for one of the biggest banks in central/eastern Europe.

          You’re right that they are not intended for bank to customer access directly. What they allow though is for third parties (other banks, mobile apps, services) to access these apis. It requires a licence though.

          Point is that a lot of banks in Europe allow to add other bank‘s accounts to their app. Also aggregator apps exist.

    • kpw@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Banks could simply come together and develop an open banking standard for customers. Would probably save them a lot of money too, since the development of their stupid apps presumably costs them a lot.

      • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, but think about all the data they can gather for their marketing team and the ads they can send over notifications.

      • wincing_nucleus073@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        no way bro that would be too simple and easy for the customer! nah best to just have tracker injected bloated apps infesting everyone’s phones.

  • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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    1 year ago

    Software that burns down the server of any website that asks for data they don’t actually need.

  • minstrel
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    1 year ago

    health smartwatch app, with sleep n all features in some opensource format that could use any other app data… utopia, i know

  • Player2@sopuli.xyz
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    1 year ago

    Not sure if this already exists in some form, but I want something that always records where I’ve been. I am a very forgetful person and the Google maps timeline feature has been very helpful more than a handful of times. Unfortunately, it means that Google knows exactly where I’ve been also…

    I just want to be able to check where I was the afternoon of a random Tuesday three years ago!

  • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    A browser addon that utterly floods advertisers and trackers with dummy data. A single person using it is easy to single out. A thousand start to eat into the profits. 100k should make them go offline (DDoS’ed) with an interesting frequency.

    • d-RLY?@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      For real! One of the things that made using Signal a non-issue for me was due to it being able to use SMS as a fall-back and therefore didn’t need me to push friends to also install another message app. I really only first installed it because it was the messaging app my local chapter of the SRA was using. I was excited that it did the shit I loved about the old Google Hangouts before they unnecessarily chose to break shit back out into three replacements. Being able to use a more feature rich messaging service when the people I am messaging also have it is awesome. But being able to still send a basic SMS from the same app without leaving is super nice. It is the main thing I always envied about how iMessage has worked basically forever.

      Fortunately some of my friends and co-workers also have needed to install Signal for similar reasons I did or for remote therapy stuff. But it is so hard to get others to just install it just because it is privacy focused and since we already have Facebook Messenger/Discord/Snap/IG/Line and of course SMS. Also hate feeling like I am being pushy or annoying unless I am directly asked about apps to try or some specific reason.

      I also have fond memories of using Gaim/Pidgin back in the day for being able to just have one IM client that could work with basically whatever any of my friends/contacts liked using. A universal chat/message client really seems like something that would be cool to see come back.

      • kaan@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Sms isn’t secure or private, it doesn’t make sense to include it in a privacy focused messaging app.

        I also would like to have a universal messaging client but sadly it doesn’t seem possible , just look at the recent reverse engineered iMessage apps, why would you waste all that effort reverse-engineering proprietary chat apps, when they can get (and will get) shut down by the service. Especially while better, open protocols exist.

      • Blisterexe@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        Try beeper, it’ll let you use sms and signal (among others) on the same app, the app isn’t open source but their server infrastructure is open source and self hostable (it might not be easy to self host it though)

  • ono@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Do services count? Because in that case, ride-hailing. A replacement for services like Uber and Lyft.

    • echo64@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      A private ride hailing app sounds like a safety nightmare. It’s one of those things you want blazingly documented and auditable

      • soenketk@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I agree that data collection is a good security measure in this case. But privacy friendly does not necessarily mean there is no data collected. Important is that nothing is shared with 3rd parties and all data is well protected.

        • echo64@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Safety features nessaseraly demand open and auditable by third parties.

          We need to be able to ensure that abusers aren’t hopping around companies abusing passengers or drivers, for example. It’s hard to do that with complete privacy.

          It’s one of the cases where strong regulations so third parties can’t do things with your data is important, but also sharing that data to protect yourself and others more vulnerable than you is important.

    • Chais@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      What’s wrong with taxi services?
      From a client perspective Uber and Lyft don’t solve any issue that taxi services don’t. They may be more convenient/accessible by providing an app, but that’s not an unsolvable issue.
      But from a privacy perspective taxis clearly have a leg up since you’re an anonymous customer.

      • ono@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Off the top of my head, taxi services lack:

        • Convenient hailing. A phone call works okay if you’re home, where there isn’t much noise and you speak the local language, but a web form is often much easier and less error-prone in other situations.
        • Efficient coverage. Many areas either have sparse taxi coverage, or multiple taxi companies competing in an area, and if the one you call doesn’t have enough drivers available and nearby, you’re stuck waiting unreasonably long even if there are other ride options with better availability.
        • Up-front journey-specific prices. We now have the technology to see what the total cost will be before we commit to a ride. We should be using it.
        • A single point of hailing, where I can submit my location and destination, and be presented with my ride options from all the available providers.
        • Accurate pick-up and drop-off time estimates. Even better with real-time taxi location.
        • Quick arrival.
        • Automated ride-sharing coordination among strangers.
        • Fuel efficiency incentives. Most taxis I’ve taken have been heavy vehicles that guzzle petrol, passing the expense on to the environment and the customer.

        I think most (maybe all) of this could be solved by something like a clearinghouse for taxi rides, effectively federating the various taxi services in an area, with a web app available for hailing.

    • Pantherina@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      So true! In Germany we have Blablacar and Flixbus / Flixtrain, which have soo much better services to travel cheaply. But its proprietary “install our app” garbage

  • rodbiren@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Something that produces a wealth of plausible web traffic on my connection and browser that woefully misleads anyone monitoring it as to what I actually am browsing. Rather than hiding my traffic or ensuring some hyper level of encryption I simply want to use maybe an LLM or something to create such a close facimilie to “normal” online traffic that my online fingerprint becomes useless as sub 5% of my traffic is actually real.

    Essentially I want privacy through drowning out everything with noise. It seems like the harder the to unwind in the end if done in a clever way. That plus some basic security protections and I will feel fairly secure.

    • James Kirk@startrek.website
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      1 year ago

      That’s the premise behind AdNauseam, albeit only for ads and not general navigation: It clicks all the ads in the background, so the data won’t ever target the real you.

      • Kyoyeou (Ki jəʊ juː)@slrpnk.net
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        1 year ago

        Sorry I should have clarified.

        I want to legally buy my movie paying it to the creators, and be able do do whatever I want with my copy with me knowing I bought it just for buying it and being allowed to Own it without it being a DVD, because I don’t want DVDs, because I live in 16m² and I move way to often, while keeping the concept of buying it

        • wincing_nucleus073@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          just torrent everything. it’s so damn convenient and easy nowadays. if they dont wanna give you an easy way to buy and keep their movies, fuck em.

        • Gooey0210@sh.itjust.works
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          Buy online and webrip? 🤔

          But I wouldn’t buy anything anyway (and also, who is using DVDs these days? 🫥)

      • Bienenvolk@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        The hard part is getting used to it. How do I share my public keys? How do I use GPG (the program)? How do I access them easily? What do I do when I want to encrypt my mails on desktop (maybe Windows+Linux), laptop, and phone? It’s just relatively much work to gather the knowledge.

        + the fact there’re not many people using it

    • QuazarOmega@lemy.lol
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      1 year ago

      Even between providers? I think it won’t ever be easy as long as the protocol isn’t encrypted by default (which it will never be honestly)

  • Infinite@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    Not sure if this counts, but a simple FOSS BIOS/UEFI option that could be installed on most desktops and laptops. The current options (Libreboot, coreboot) are very limited in compatible hardware.

  • HeartyBeast@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    A version of WhatsApp that doesn’t require full access to all your contacts to work properly. I have about 10 people I need to Whatapp with - I just want to add those people. Meta doesn’t need to know my Doctor’s phone number.

    • Extras@lemmy.today
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      1 year ago

      Not sure if its useful to you but grapheneos has contact scopes that lets you choose which contacts an application has access to.

    • Possibly linux@lemmy.zip
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      You can’t do that because its proprietary software. Also meta makes money from data so it makes sense they would want to analyze your contacts