
Ask HN: Why would you prefer Signal over WhatsApp? - cryptos
Are there any reasons why you would prefer the Signal messenger over WhatsApp? What reasons are these, then?
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icc97
Big obvious problem with WhatsApp is that it's owned by Facebook and seeing as
WhatsApp is free they're most likely using it as a data collection / tracking
mechanism. Signal is much more based around privacy, it's open source and Open
Whisper Systems are funded more transparently through grants and donations.

But ignoring that and just looking at the features.

Typically I use them for different things. WhatsApp works better for sharing
with groups of people because lots of people have it on their phone.

I use Signal as a layer on top of SMS but typically only 1-1 communication, so
if both of us have Signal then great, but otherwise it's just regular SMS.

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fiiv
While the messages themselves are definitely E2E encrypted using Whisper
Systems' specs (which is nice), the problem is that once the app decrypts
them, I have no way of verifying that Facebook does not steal my message for
profile building purposes.

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Retroity
Signal is easier to use. I use it primarily as a SMS client but when I'm
talking to someone who is also using Signal the conversation automatically
becomes way more secure.

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gormz
Signal was just much easier to start using. The desktop app is seamless. Also,
no one I know uses whatsapp.

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matt_the_bass
No one I knew used WhatsApp or signal (I’m in the US). However I just finished
a project with a customer spread between Middle East, Singapore, and India.
They ALL used WhatsApp and asked us to use it to communicate with them.

So definitely seems to vary in popularity depending where you are located.

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spdebbarma
I quit all social media and that included WhatsApp, about a year and a half
back. Everyone is fine with me leaving social sites but how dare I leave
WhatsApp? They look at me weird for that.

Surprisingly though, Signal is slowly gaining popularity among the smarter
crowds.

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xstartup
Not needing to enable wifi on smartphone and still being able to message from
the desktop is one of the big reasons.

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viyu
I would definitely trust Signal over Facebook-owned WhatsApp

