Technology @lemmy.world Provider @feddit.de 1 yr. ago

Should it really be Telegram?

tim.kicker.dev Should it really be Telegram?

In recent years, WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps worldwide, connecting billions of people across the globe. However, beneat

Is Telegram really that bad and should i look more into it or is sticking to signal really the best option?

24 comments

Telegram is very sketchy and I don’t trust it at all. I’d stick with Signal if you can get your network of people to use it.
- How is it sketchy?
  
  Encryption is self-made and they won’t let anyone audit it. Messages are stored on servers along with all the meta data (your phone number, location data, etc). There is no clear funding model to keep it up and running.
  
  The whole org is murky/sketchy.
I did the mistake that I got a bunch of people into Signal which is obviously already really good, but just a couple of month later I switched to Matrix and can't get anyone to move other than my fiance and my dad.

Anyway, the Signal <-> Matrix bridge is quite solid.
- Too bad Matrix clients are all kinda meh... Beeper is the only pretty solid one I've come across and it sadly isn't open-source.
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  I have a video which explains it in detail: https://tube.jeena.net/w/rYhp4ZT5Ykw1aBGqMr62KG
  
  But in short, yes, but that is only a problem if you don't host your own bridge, because you're in control of the whole chain and everything from the bridge to your client is still encrypted.
just going to copy here something i wrote on reddit ~~a few months~~ almost a year ago^[context]

i've been using telegram since it was released and ...i don't think i'll be recommending it to new users anymore

it's not just this announcement, but in general they seem to be really pushing the web3/blockchain/nft angle; along with sign in with telegram, payments through telegram, they feel like they're trying to become the western wechat

but as for this in particular; obviously all of those usernames are going to be bought by scammers. why would a user trust them if they're being bought and sold all the time? and why would a legitimate business buy them if most users won't trust them? businesses want consistent branding, not ephemeral minutiæ

nobody is thinking "oh yeah, my bank is the best, it's @bank on telegram" or "i think i'll switch to a new bank, but i don't know which. i guess i'll just message @bank and see what happens" or "i just got a message from @gift! i must have won the lottery!"

plus, according to these messages, they're taking usernames off users that already used them

most of my contacts are on telegram now, so i'm going to continue using it. but even aside from the encryption and privacy issues, i wouldn't encourage anyone to switch to telegram
Honestly, there needs to be something completely open source, self-hosted, and non-corporate before I will do something like use a service anymore.
- What you want then is SimpleX Chat Bonus that there are no identifiers and it's been audited by Trail of Bits. You can self-host or use their servers.
  
  Cool! Thanks for that link. I'm going to look into it.
  
  Looks interesting, thanks
  
  Just waiting for the same profile in multiple devices. I constantly use multiple computers and can't be locked out of chat unless I have a specific device on me.
  
  Other than that, SimpleX Chat is really nice.
Matrix is another good option
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- Yea, I don't use Telegram because of security, I use it because it has a very nice feature list and has the user base to go along with it. Anything that needs security I use Signal.

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