I have already told my family and friends that I will only be reached on SIGNAL only. But nobody cares and none migrated for me. Does this mean that I have to ditch these people out of my life and stand my ground?
If I do install these offensive apps, I’m sure their background telemetries will be running 24/7, stealing and collecting metadata in the background to build a profile on you. Not to mention the amount of SPYING if I allowed these apps PERMISSION to access my photos,cameras, contacts, location and etc.
One way I thought of, is to create a separate profile to house them together. They can steal from each other. It is just abit of a hassle to swap profile just to chat and I won’t receive notifications when I am in my normal profile.
for telegram there are two native apps.
And WhatsApp and WeChat wont run 24/7 and collect data. They dont see, whats outside the android-container is. And you can close them and they are stopped completely.
Telegram is easy to replace with Fernschreiber or Yottagram.
About the others: WhatsApp and WeChat will at least not have the normal information (like your contact list, position, etc.) because they are containerised in SFOS. And of cause you can just shut off Android App Support of cause. Still it is better to not install them of cause, but they will be limited in accessing your data on your smartphone.
On GrapheneOS there is an option to ‘enable access to contacts’ without leaking your real contacts. It creates a symbolic directory or something like that to satisfy the app requirements. If Android apps are sandboxed on SFOS then maybe this feature is available?
Edit: Someone already confirmed that is how containers work. I’m in bed not wearing my glasses.
I had a quick look at the code. given what’s it’s based on, it’s a very minimal implementation. I would not use it since it’s highly likely to get you blocked in the long term. I spent quite a lot more time looking at the whatsmeow work GitHub - tulir/whatsmeow: Go library for the WhatsApp web multidevice API if the sfos app actually used whatsmeow properly, that’d be nice. But it’s not that.
I have to admit, I had some hopes that someone using Claude would make a bit more of an effort, but, sadly, the cliche is true. Most programmers using these tools are just going for a quick fix. I’m sometimes guilty of that. But I write all my crappy code myself
Sad, the whatsmeow library is really nice (if you like go). I might even look at that myself … after I go fix bugs in tooter …
It does not have to be that eextreme.I offer a wide choice with different comfort levels. I will answer Threema and Signal pretty fast. Telegram sometimes and only for family and other weird people and the rest will have enough patience to wait for my answer to email or sms.
I have many friends with IT background. So that makes things easier.
Wait, so people know you care deeply about something, your phone cannot run certain apps natively, and they still will not bother to install one additional app that is readily available on their platform, out of the dozens they already have?
I would say that tells you a lot about what kind of friends you have.
I went out of my way to install Whisperfish just to accommodate a single friend who insists on using Signal for very valid reasons, and I am usually very much a “my way or the highway” kind of person. But I also know when to say, “I see that you have valid reasons, and the inconvenience to me is far smaller than it is to you,” so I am willing to install a new app just to stay in touch.
I would say that talk to your family at least again and install yourself signal/telegram to their phone (as both have native app). Family probably is okay with this change, that is what I did with mine. From time to time they still send me messages in Whatsapp (old habits die hard…) as I am also still there. I have been able to switch only few friends to Signal but I try to be not too pushy. With friends I usually mention it when I see them physically as it is easier that way to get them install the app and show them how it works
I did it a long time ago, I use the GSM operator’s voice and SMS services, email, Telegram and that’s all. Family and true friends have adjusted. I explained my reasons to them, they understood. Yes, I’ve lost instant contact with several groups, but that doesn’t bother me, on the contrary, it’s reduced my information smog.
I was in this position. It is difficult to argue necessity when every phone supports SMS. Apple users don’t always realise they are using less secure technologies when texting Android users. The average user assumes most apps are secure and can’t understand the issue. It is a knowledge gap. If you suggest end to end encryption they have WhatsApp. One of my relatives is an Apple purist. Others are minimalists. One is just lazy. He refuses to use Signal so we communicate via proxy. There is a social club I’m involved with which transitioned from email to WhatsApp before I could suggest Signal and now I miss out
I put my foot down and eventually refused to answer SMS. Problem solved, since they care about me. All but one person who can’t install new apps on her iPhone due to missing credentials migrated. I started making more effort to talk in person. The final holdout wouldn’t respond to my messages regardless of format so nothing changed and I refuse to put his mobile number in my phone.
it’s all very well making arbitrary choices for yourself, but it’s a bit of a reach in hoping for success when making arbitrary diktats for how your friends must change their lives in order to accomodate you.
i use element, i have a small group of friends that use it as well, but the majority use whatsapp and signal. it’s just the way it is, so I use all three.
Just to show another perspective.
From your POV, it’s just another app they should download to communicate with you.
But from theirs, it’s just another app that you can download to communicate with them, that also everyone they probably know already uses it.
I completely deleted all my social media and all IMs a few years ago and I never told anyone to download any special app to reach me. I went with the mindset that everyone that needs to reach out to me will call me, send sms or an email.
And that’s exactly what happened. Anyone that needed to reach me called and the rest (99% of it) was just noise and pointless chats/spam.
