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Comment by _9vpl | Hacker News Reader

With the approach that Signal has taken, it doesn't require you to register a username. The app just registers you with the server as a Signal user using your already unique ID - your phone number. While not the most secure and privacy-protecting method, it allows anyone to just install it and start using it as a secure alternative to plaintext SMS.

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Regarding SMS - it's not always an alternative to SMS since it uses data. I know data is more popular than SMS in many countries, but when you hit your monthly limit, you want to disable all data.

Regarding the simplicity of using a phone number and how it would be very easy for all users - Wickr provides basically the same service, is more popular, but uses usernames instead of phone numbers.

The fact that something is open source isn't always a clear win. OpenSSL, for example, is open source and yet they seem to have many bugs.

For the record, I use Signal almost exclusively for communication. I just wish it was more protective of users' privacy without having to put in a ton of effort.

Yes, I should clarify what I mean as an alternative to SMS. The experience on Android is quite nice as it will replace your default SMS app and will work similar to Messages on iOS where it will send using data via Signal if the other user is a Signal user or fallback to SMS if they aren't a SMS user. Unfortunately it's not as nice on iOS since Apple apparently doesn't allow Messages to be replaced as the default SMS app.

Furthermore, if you are registered with username+ password, I think you will want to have a password recovery method as well, so you're back to giving a phone number or an email address to the server.

> when you hit your monthly limit, you want to disable all data.

This is country-specific. In Germany, any data usage exceeding your plan is free but terribly slow, usually 64kbit. That's good enough for messaging and checking email (and HN comments).

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