Re:How did Google Talk change from a dream to a nightmare?
by fauigerzigerk on Sunday February 11, 2018 @01:07PM
(#16353836)
How does the phone number tie-in make it usable? Phone numbers and SIM cards are about the most user hostile thing I can possibly think of.
What's wrong with the way Threema does it for instance, which is essentially to bind the identity to a key pair that you can back up?
Re:How did Google Talk change from a dream to a nightmare?
by LamaOfRuin on Sunday February 11, 2018 @02:07PM
(#16354177)
Threema appears to optionally do the exact same thing. Signal eschews the flexibility to ensure more universal usability by being able to assume that anyone who uses signal can be associated with their phone number. An assumption that holds for the vast vast majority of potential users.
Re:How did Google Talk change from a dream to a nightmare?
by fauigerzigerk on Sunday February 11, 2018 @02:59PM
(#16354429)
I don't see how making phone numbers mandatory makes Signal easier to use at all. There must be another reason for this restriction. Some say it's for spam protection.
Re:How did Google Talk change from a dream to a nightmare?
by wyclif on Monday February 12, 2018 @12:25AM
(#16356738)
Signal will work with Google Voice, but as far as I can tell you still need a smartphone to use it. Without that, you can't even set up an account because you need to scan an OCR code first.
It is true though that you do need to maintain a phone number. That is one of the trade-offs they made to allow it to actually be usable. I have not seen a better solution for encrypted communication yet.