Hello everyone. Only just found the site today, but is really interesting to me as a recent GrapheneOS user.
I hope I can get some help regarding the various ‘private’ messaging and social apps out there please.
I’ve currently got Session downloaded and my wife, daughter and best mate have joined me on there. I decided on that as it seemed not only the most anonymous messaging app, but easiest to use for the others who are all also on WhatsApp (I’ve just come off that).
Is there anything better than Session (I have read the various options but there may be some I don’t know about), but it has to be user friendly? (Signal X would be fine for me, but I can see the others having trouble using it, for example).
Also, in terms of social media apps that are ‘private,’ what are the best ones to potentially go for?
Thanks in advance, and look forward to contributing to the various discussions in due course.
Right now? Signal messenger I find is better. Session has recently only announced some major improvements but it is not there yet and so for now Signal is better and more user friendly with more features too. You can’t make audio/video calls on Session among other things. It’s been in beta for years now but doesn’t work.
What’s the problem? It’s literally dead simple to use.
I suggest joining the fediverse with Mastodon (Twitter/Threads alternative) and Pixelfed (Instagram alternative). Please encourage others too. If you need help navigating, please let me know and I (and others) can explain.
Furthermore, since you’re brand new here (welcome!), please research on this forum on the questions you have. There’s already a lot of information on here. But you cn of course ask specific questions should you have any.
For now, I and Privacy Guides suggest Signal messenger for your IM needs. Once you register with your phone number/any phone number (doesn’t have to be your real one), you can simply use and exchange contact info via usernames and no one has to know your real/fake number that you used to register with it. Anonymous communication is possible on/with Signal too! It is also trusted by people with extremely high threat models.
Many thanks for the welcome and response. Just so I can understand Signal a little more…. I had downloaded it, but saw messages on here saying it wasn’t as ‘anonymous’ as Session, so I went for Session. Can you therefore explain how the anonymity works on Signal please, thank you. Also, re Signal X, it’s fine for me, but it took me a while to even get the family to understand the Session code sign up etc! Thanks in advance for the help
Yeah, people only say that because they have a phone number requirement to register before being able to begin using it. You can get a one time phone number from @SMSPool and register for Signal or use your real number. It doesn’t matter. Signal literally and only uses it for registering you. It doesn’t save the number.
Actually it isn’t, You can only notice the battery saving if you use Sandboxed Google Play, and even then there would be no difference with the normal signal app
Without sandboxed Google play it uses a websocket which now makes it one other app to drain resources
Can you expand on what you mean by this? I am interpreting this in several ways. When talking about anonymity and privacy, we have to be very specific here.
I mean, I personally use both apps at the same time so I don’t notice a difference. I have seem many say that Molly is better on battery - which is why I bring it up. And I don’t have Play Store snadboxed/installed.
Are you conflating with wanting privacy? Because that’s what signal offers
You can also just use services that provides numbers not tied to anyone’s identity like SMSPool for example
Good question for asking why. But the right word is conflating, not confusing.
Yep! Its the best to sign up if you don’t want to use your real number. But it should be noted for OP that if they do this and set up their Signal to not have anyone see your number, then you can only add people with your username. They cannot identify on their Signal app by default that you are on Signal.
For OP: Signal is going to be better for long term use. They have been in the industry for so long and has the largest user base in the encrypted private messenger app space and the audio/video calling is absolutely needed to make use of that privacy and security Signal provides. Other apps can’t provide that reliably nor for free. Though I wish you also donate to the non profit project that is Signal if you can.
So… Molly is only on Android, right? But this would still work fine with ‘normal’ Signal on ios (as family are all Apple users)?
In terms of privacy/anonymity… I am a journalist who doesn’t necessarily want certain aspects of my work to be ‘hackable’ for want of a better term. Private conversations that have to stay just that. E2EE I guess does that job (?) but I also don’t want to be identifiable by phone number etc. I’ll take a look at SMSPool as not heard of this before. Any other info is welcomed, thank you
Ah, on iOS, you only have the Signal app. Yes, Molly is Android only.
Signal provides all that you’re asking with not being able to be identifiable with your phone number. Check it out fully.. use it to see how well it works. You should not just trust people blindly on the internet. All of what I am saying is verifiable.
Thank you. This is how green I am. Molly will work perfectly well with Signal on ios right? I will check everything out and thanks so much. Also, I’m already on Mastodon and Pixelfed. Guess there’s nothing better than those two for the same reasons as what I want from an IM?
There are plans for decentralization with to my understanding remaining the option of signal servers but nothing has come out since to my understanding
(CCS - Decentralizing Molly.im to support Monero payments)
In fact my friends both use the normal signal app while I use molly and talk just fine and even link to signal desktop
I think the one benefit of Molly is the hardening, helps for journalists, this includes ram shredding and database encryption are ones I can think of
I second everyone else about Signal messenger. It really is the best today for all that it provides. Usernames and being able to audio and video call while maintaining the level of privacy and security is fantastic. I’ve recently moved to it and can’t believe it took me this long.
Thanks all, for the replies and help. Have Molly working well and family members (ios users) on Signal, so all good. One other question. I have Molly downloaded in my Social profile on Graphene OS, but as I don’t always have that profile open and don’t want to miss a message, I wanted to download to my main profile. This I have done but when it comes to trying to link to the original Molly account I can’t seem to do it. I’ve tried a few things but getting nowhere. Does a second code to the same number on SMS pool work? As I did get a new number for Molly on main profile which is clearly an issue! Apologies again for being a little green with these matters. All help greatly appreciated
You have to re-register again in the profile you want to use it.
What? You can only use it in one place. You can’t have multiple instances of the same on the same number. And depending on how you used that number from SMS Pool, it may only be for one time verification. So, you may not be able to keep reusing it (if it was a quick purchase).
So, I had hoped to be able to use a second instance of Molly as a ‘linked device’ as they’re essentially in two different sandboxed areas of my Graphene OS, so my understanding was they would essentially be two separate ‘devices.’ I therefore need a way of getting the QR code off the first install, and be able to have that linked to the second install. Does that make sense?
Yeah, what you’re asking does not seem/is not possible. On GOS, you can have multiple Signal/Molly apps registered with multiple numbers but you can’t have one be a linked device of another on the same physical device because there is no where to scan in real time.
I can’t imagine why you’d need a set up like this. If you want to be able to receive messages from another profile, just make sure the profile stays active in the background so Signal/Molly keeps running in the back so if you get a message, you can quickly move it. Of course, this means you’ll have to keep moving back to your main one.