• Requires a phone number
• Depends on Big Tech's servers
• Got founded by the US government
• Seems to absolutely love Big Tech because they hide the APK download page quite well[1]
• It's centralized

I use my own Snikket server to communicate with people using OMEMO (Signal Protocol). No phone number requirements, no centralized server, no Big Tech, just you and the people you write with, with your privacy fully intact. Just like in the good old days (as it should be to this days, greedy f*****s).

[1]: signal.org/download > Android redirects you to Google Play Store. signal.org/download/android > Download for Android redirects you to Google Play Store. signal.org/install redirects you to Google Play Store. You'll search "forever" to find the "download APK file" link until you give up and using a search engine: "signal apk".

Not until then you'll find signal.org/android/apk. And when you visit that page, a link to Google Play Store is listed on top, and below it, in the "danger zone", you'll find the APK download button. Yes, exactly, the Signal team wants you to be on the "safe zone" by downloading the app through Google Play Store.

"focus on privacy" my ass. Close to forcing someone to use Big Tech shitty stuff is NOT focus on privacy.

Sorry, rant is over. Now breakfast time.

For me it's Mumble. Open sourced and completely free with encryption, and temporary chat logs.

XMPP. Oh, wait, company based.

• Signal if you want phone number based signups.
• SimpleX Chat if you want to experience full privacy.
• Threema if you want basically the same as SimpleX Chat, but want to give them money first.

But XMPP would be the best option. Snikket is recommended for easy setup.

1. They have their own closed eco system
2. They think money is key and throw large amounts at their consumers
3. All source code is closed
4. They are based in USA
5. They love AI

Like what another person said, hate is a strong word. But when it comes to Big Tech, I'm all for the word.

Might have missed adding something to the list. Will add more if I have.

Different people, different taste.

I love FairEmail because of its "millions" of settings and the privacy features, for an example if you press a link, you'll get a popup with options (for an example, what app you want to open the link with). And if the link contains trackers, FairEmail will remove these by default and saying "tracking parameters removed" with yellow text in bold.

K-9 Mail feels incomplete in comparison. Have you tried FairEmail?

I must agree on the bloated part. Telegram was awesome before Pavel got greedy and added more and more stuff that are just not related to any chat service, for an example payments and crypto.

I installed Snikket on my server few weeks ago and are now trying to move everyone to it. It seems to be a very slow process, though.

But I might keep Telegram only for the porn channels. Mighty good stuff!

By the way. Do you have the source for your claim that Russian authorities were messing with people's deleted messages?

• Moshidon: letting me communicate with people on Mastodon
• QKSMS: text message (SMS) app
• KISS Launcher: a very neat launcher that took a while before I could love it as I do now
• FairEmail: an email client with tons of options
• Mull: a fork of Firefox
• Privacy Browser: a browser based on WebView
• Simple Calendar Pro: for managing my self-hosted CalDAV (waiting for Fossify's version)
• Fossify Gallery: managing my images and videos
• AntennaPod: listening to podcasts
• Bitwarden: managing my self-hosted vaultwarden
• Download Navi: download files instead of using the browser
• Foxy Droid: making browsing apps on mainly F-Droid and IzzyOnDroid like old-school Google Play Store
• Loop Habits: logging my habits
• Hypatia: protecting my smartphone from malware using ClamAV
• Lemuroid: able to play my childhood favourite games wherever I am
• Miniflutt: read RSS posts through my self-hosted Miniflux server
• Mullvad VPN: protecting my identity wherever I am
• OpenTracks: track my movements
• Seal: download videos from mainly YouTube, but also converting YouTube videos to MP3 files (perfect for downloading music mixes for my bicycle trips)
• Syncthing: syncing important files to and from my desktop
• Voyager: browsing Lemmy
• URL Radio: listening to manually added radio stations
• Tasks: reminding me to do stuff
• Unexpected Keyboard: by far the best keyboard with really good shortcuts
• Planisphere: exploring the sky and letting me plan my astro photography
• LibreTube: exploring YouTube through Piped API
• Simple Voice Recorder: letting me record stuff when I don't have my audio recorder with me (waiting for Fossify's version)

• Requires Google Play Store to install the app. They refer to Play Store from their release page on GitHub.
  • No client on F-Droid nor IzzyOnDroid.
• Based in USA.
• You can't install the server on your own server.
• The server's source code appears to be closed.

I wouldn't use it or trust it 🙂

That was the issue! So v4.18.8 change from Shortcuts to Tree automatically. Good to know when Thunar will be updated on my laptop. Many thanks :)

I am so happy to live in Sweden. All open WiFi networks here are free to use and requires no email or account (VPN recommended as always, though). Even at grocery stores.

Initally Facebook, but then also Google and Microsoft.

I download the music from YouTube (through front-end services like Piped) and play it locally through a music player.

I don't know how it works on iPhone (I have an Android phone), but I can use NewPipe and LibreTube and Seal to download the music. If I'm on the go that is. Otherwise I download the music through ytdlp and transfer the files to my smartphone.

Apple really restrict their users to their own ecosystem.