8 votes

Signal’s president Meredith Whittaker on what’s next for the private messaging app

9 comments

  1. [9]
    kfwyre
    Link
    What's everyone's wishlist for Signal features? I'm curious what other people are wanting out of the app in the future.

    What's everyone's wishlist for Signal features? I'm curious what other people are wanting out of the app in the future.

    1 vote
    1. [6]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. [5]
        mat
        Link Parent
        Seems unlikely that a privacy focussed organisation like Signal would add support for a cleartext messaging protocol which has government backdoors built into the hardware it runs over. I guess...

        Seems unlikely that a privacy focussed organisation like Signal would add support for a cleartext messaging protocol which has government backdoors built into the hardware it runs over. I guess they could add crypto but it would have to be super basic and why would they when Signal exists already?

        I just want more than four of my friends to be using Signal. Which to be honest is probably somewhat less likely than SMS support.

        1 vote
        1. [4]
          whispersilk
          Link Parent
          Signal on Android has SMS support currently and is dropping it. I think Loire's point is that they wish Signal would keep it around.

          Signal on Android has SMS support currently and is dropping it. I think Loire's point is that they wish Signal would keep it around.

          7 votes
          1. [3]
            mat
            Link Parent
            Huh, I never noticed, but if you say it's there I have no reason to disbelieve you. Seems like a very strange feature to have in an app which makes a big deal about privacy/security. Or one who...

            Huh, I never noticed, but if you say it's there I have no reason to disbelieve you. Seems like a very strange feature to have in an app which makes a big deal about privacy/security. Or one who someone who cares about privacy would want - I barely care about privacy by tildes standards and even I don't want to go anywhere near SMS.

            1 vote
            1. whbboyd
              Link Parent
              It's a way to opportunistically introduce privacy. SMS is ubiquitous in the US; unless I convince all my contacts to switch to Signal (lolno), I would otherwise have to use both Signal and the...

              It's a way to opportunistically introduce privacy. SMS is ubiquitous in the US; unless I convince all my contacts to switch to Signal (lolno), I would otherwise have to use both Signal and the system SMS app, and keep track of who uses Signal, and in practice it would result in me just using SMS with everyone. With SMS integration, I can use the Signal app for all my messaging, and contacts who support it seamlessly get upgraded.

              It's also, as many people have noted, a convenient lever to get non-techies and non-privacy-advocates to adopt it, which is a huge win overall.

              7 votes
            2. admicos
              Link Parent
              I personally found it a great feature, because it means for non-technical people you can just "set it and forget it", and when their contacts also switch to Signal, encryption happens...

              I personally found it a great feature, because it means for non-technical people you can just "set it and forget it", and when their contacts also switch to Signal, encryption happens automatically & seamlessly instead of needing to check another app or (god forbid) needing to learn another username to enter to another app.

              Of course, this really only works in communities where SMS is preferred over, say, WhatsApp or some other way.

              3 votes
    2. BlockerBrews
      Link Parent
      Support for accounts without needing a phone number.

      Support for accounts without needing a phone number.

      6 votes
    3. [2]
      riQQ
      Link Parent
      I don't really need anything else. For me keeping it updated and fixing security issues and bugs is enough.

      I don't really need anything else. For me keeping it updated and fixing security issues and bugs is enough.

      3 votes
      1. j3n
        Link Parent
        Agree. What I want out of Signal is for is continued stability without feature bloat.

        Agree. What I want out of Signal is for is continued stability without feature bloat.

        1 vote