I’ve just switched from an iPhone 12 Pro to Pixel 9 and am on GrapheneOS now. Aside from Signal chat history, everything switched over quite easily. Sandboxed google play services is simply an amazing feature. Rerouting location requests let’s me feel a certain level of trust when I use Google Maps now. There are a tonne of little quality of life features too that I don’t remember if base Android had back when I used it before; e.g. setting the default language for a specific application.
For using Immich without exposing it to the public, check out Tailscale. It’s a private VPN (wireguard) service (it’s partially opensource and provides paid tiers, but the free tier is all you’ll need; there’s an open source server called Headscale, if you need full open source) you can use on your home network that is dead simple to configure. You literally just login on you computer and your phone.
Zen for desktop: https://zen-browser.app/
Ironfox for mobile: https://ironfoxoss.org/
I’m getting at the fact that most platforms do stupid shit like “this message might not be deleted if the receiver already saw it” like WhatsApp does and/or replacing messages with placeholders saying “this message was deleted”. Telegram can be plain-text and can have a lot of issues but it guarantees that stuff is actually removed without trying to bullshit you like other do.
There’s absolutely 0 guarantee that what you’ve “deleted” is deleted. On any platform really. But what you can rely on is the fact that the E2EE is there to make sure things are only readable by whoever the messages were intended for (barring being hacked and compromised keys etc). The message can say whatever it wants, doesn’t mean a lot if you can’t trust the source. Again, we’re just talking about different threat models. With Telegram, it’s not meant for secure and private communication. It has a different audience. And to push Telegram as a private or secure communication, you’re actively doing the public a disservice.
If we assume that your privacy / security is broken (because it is) I might as well use the platform that provides the best desktop and mobile experience with fast syncs, ability to disable animations, have real desktop apps and not electron shit.
If you can’t trust even open source technology that you can review and build yourself. And trust renowned cryptographers reviews of this technology… then why are you in a privacy community telling people their experiences aren’t true to what they’re telling you?
Most people I chat with on Signal uses desktop too, I’ve never heard complaints. Most of my contacts use it now. There were hiccups in the earlier months but now it’s smooth and works great.
I use Telegram every now and then. It’s has some nice features. But it’s not secure. The reason the messages “sync” fast there… is because it’s all plain text and on the server. For everyone to read. This is an undisputable fact about Telegram. The nature of the large channels you mentioned requires this insecure mode of storing chat histories, so that everyone can access. Where as with Signal, everything is E2EE. Except a tiny bit of metadata. Telegram everything is unencrypted until you use secret chats. Again. Different threat models. You can’t really compare it to Signal. It’s more akin to FB messenger. Which is not secure. Or private.
Messages being deleted for everyone is a pretty common feature across all the platforms now. I’m not sure what you’re getting at. Arguably, chat history being stored plain text is much more a privacy nightmare (it’s literally the reason people want E2EE) than anything else.
I never understood these arguments for Telegram. Sure, it does have more features. It’s not better in terms of usability and cross platform support though. I use Signal desktop everyday. It’s a great experience. Cross platform… The only platform Signal doesn’t support is Web. Which… if there are mobile apps and desktop apps. Web is an insecure redundant need IMO. For the argument that web is good for scenarios where you can’t install desktop apps: I would flip the question to… why would you give a platform you have 0 control, permission to access your secure & private messaging? It just comes down to threat modelling. Telegram is neither secure, nor private. It shouldn’t even be in the same conversation unless talking about FB Messenger, messaging on Instagram or DMing on Twitter/X.
FB Messenger and Instagram Messenger would be the worst for privacy… But Telegram is basically just FB Messenger with nicer UX features.
There’s a couple of platforms that have better privacy and security (debatable) features than Signal, but Signal is more widely adopted amongst the E2EE Messengers.
Imagine an insurance company using data about you that it purchased from FB or Twitter to give you different insurance rates.
Or your social posts or posts tagged of you affecting your credit score or job application or even your rent application.
There are so many scenarios where having your privacy respected would protect you from unnecessary and unfair judgement.
For sure. It’s good to know. But not a huge compromise considering we are talking about still using a flavour of Android and play services.