Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message encryption

Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by jhoechtl on Friday June 05, 2020 @02:36AM (#23425684)

Will only ever happen once Signal ditches their dependency on mobile phone number.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by jobigoud on Friday June 05, 2020 @03:32AM (#23425962)

Doesn't whatsapp also rely on the phone number as Id? Why can they have a desktop and browser client?

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by gomox on Friday June 05, 2020 @10:52AM (#23429211)

Browser WhatsApp works through a connection to the phone, and not directly to servers. If your phone is off, Web WhatsApp doesn't work.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by detaro on Friday June 05, 2020 @06:34AM (#23427027)

E2E in a browser client is always questionable, I doubt Signal is ever going to add one.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by Vinnl on Friday June 05, 2020 @02:42AM (#23425721)

I don't see how the two are related? They've already got a Desktop client.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by jhoechtl on Friday June 05, 2020 @06:33AM (#23427017)

The Desktop Client is only functional when you "pair" it to your phone client.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by Vinnl on Friday June 05, 2020 @09:21AM (#23428172)

Right, and they could do the same for the web client, so I don't see how the phone number requirement would prevent them from creating one.

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