For tech savvy people it's really easy to self-host https://github.com/spantaleev/matrix-docker-ansible-deploy and the good part is that you can set up bridges to telegram, whatsapp, facebook, irc, discord, slack... So you can use those apps privately while waiting for people to switch to better alternatives (which may never happens sadly).
Bonus: the desktop app is a rather lightweight web app usable in browser, so goodbye RAM eating monsters like slack and discord.
The "I missed message because I only use xxx for that one thing" is valid for every app as long as you have fragmentation in the messaging space I think. That's why I like the idea of using the same client for a multitude of services through bridges, and not forcing people to necessarily use your network (even if they should :p)
The docs there for E2E are fairly old but get you an idea how it works. E2E has improved a lot in the last few months IMHO.
I remember when fbk would send messages to everyone, some of my clients had a hundred emails a day from fbk in their inbox, and they were checking in several times a day, now it's become a habit regardless I think for most.
I hated emails from fbk and turned them all off long ago, but some people seem to like that kind of thing, so we might need options, and options for those who want a reminder but not a bunch of reminders everyday.
It was a while ago, but I also seem to remember delayed messages.
The audio quality was nice though.
There are also other basic issues with Signal (message deliverability, buggy and spurious “device number changed” notifications, etc.).
Note that I do use Signal and advocate it, but I do that with only certain people so that I don’t burn my personal “relationship capital” unnecessarily with a poor solution.
He's had to adopt a local SIM card over there for security purposes (Russia's listening) and uses WhatsApp regularly. He asked me to pick it up, and instead I referred him to Signal.
This was [part of] his recent response:
I downloaded signal but they want to confirm my number but my sim card doesnt work over here and my european card is data only.
So that is one blocker for sure but otherwise I always push people to Signal as a reasonable alternative.
https://theintercept.com/2017/09/28/signal-tutorial-second-p...
[edit] The native desktop app is even better than WhatsApp's (doesn't stream data from your phone).
Group chats are also fairly decent on Signal, I just wish there was a way for an "admin" to exist to moderate users in the group.
Except my friend's gf could never really see when messages were using data or SMS. And my friend put a stop to the experiment because the linux client was leaking RAM like a dam and we both had sync problems between the phone and the desktop client (we are both huge telegram users for the smooth experience when connecting to your account and for syncing. We both despise the privacy risks though).
It is private. Create a channel and invite your friends. Thats it.
Disclaimer: I work for them.
With respect to interruptions/noise it doesn’t have any advantages over Slack.
The public probably is not able or willing to pay for extremely valuable instant global communications service that handles audio, video, photo, text, and other data. Regardless of who owns it, I know that my network of people across 4 continents derives great value from the free service.
Of course, that promise is worth less than $20B as we found out.
The founders were being disingenuous when they said the data wouldn't be used for ads.
Couldn't find how to achieve that. Anyone knowing if this is possible?
[I expect that's too many hoops for your use case though ;]
https://www.whatsapp.com/business/api
The Twilio API is in beta, and you can sign up. Don't know what pricing will be, but maybe for individual use a dev subscription may be sufficient
https://www.twilio.com/whatsapp
Here is the API reference:
Though, getting your own business-API would be cheaper, I've heard WhatsApp is very picky about granting those and instead prefer you work with a third-party partner instead [0].
Then, there's click-to-chat for simpler communication if the client's WA number is known [1].
[0] https://faq.whatsapp.com/en/general/26000239/?category=52452...
[1] https://faq.whatsapp.com/en/general/26000030/?category=52452...
Not as good as an auto responder but at least people would see it when searching for you in the app
I’d also recommend services like Signal for secure, private messaging.
WhatsApp before getting bought by FB was begging for money and is my understanding that it was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Public had a choice of free(as in beer) products vs privacy. We chose the former.
The way I look at it, if not even Google can beat FB at personal social networking (Google+), then FB has a monopoly and this is not a free market. Sure, anyone is free to start a startup and try to do what FB does, but I mean...
I suspect the only reason the government hasn't gotten involved in this matter yet is because FB offers seemingly non-essential service. A different situation than Microsoft and browsers.
Unfortunately, they might not understand privacy concerns, but even if they did, they don’t have the language fluency or technical capacity to verify the claims of security.
Free Markets are.
Capitalism is about the means of production being held in private hands - but those private hands still do their best to own all of the means of production and to lock out potential competitors.
The two get conflated (free markets and capitalism) but they are different beasts. In fact, you can have a free market socialism (tried semi-successfully by Yugoslavia). But ensuring free markets via regulation is how to keep Capitalism from becoming a Gibson novel.
a) Also using competition, prices and money, but with factories, companies and lands organized by worker's cooperatives, with the profit shared according with some logic not based in mere property.
b) Using only prices and money while keeping updated data about production and consumption, and updating prices based in these data. Perhaps easier with modern technology than in the past. The information about these things can propagate in wires and communication means like the other kind of information that the society needs.
Item b) sounds like capitalism and blockchain to me :)
About item c), heuristics and politics don't go well together, according to my intuition.
But these are just my opinions. This is a fascinating topic.
Capitalism is not naturally stable and it needs regulation to work to the benefit of most people. Without that, the capitalists work to destroy capitalism in order to benefit themselves.