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Comment by brenden2 | Hacker News Reader

I don't trust new products anymore, especially anything like a new chat app. I don't install new apps. I'm more willing to try something if they have a website that works in incognito mode and doesn't require a phone number to create an account.

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Matrix protocol ( https://matrix.org ) + client (e.g. I think that the official webclient is "https://riot.im")

I'm not sure why you were downvoted for this but I share the same sentiment. I only use apps I'd they are essential or need to be apps. Automatic app updates are essentially a giant bait and switch.

Unneeded permissions are practically a cliche by now and the permissions that apps get are routinely abused. Give an app notifications and they will spam you while the app interface isn't running.

Some software doesn't even need to be native or connected. Word processors, calculator apps, many lower definition games and even image manipulation could be done with one fat webpage.html file.

You should try to set up your computer so that you can run native apps with only about the level of privilege that a website in incognito mode has. It would really increase your flexibility.

I'd personally suggest setting up a virtual machine with some sort of "checkpointing" feature, where you can rewind the machine to an earlier state if you don't like what an app did to it.

That's cool but it still requires compromising privacy by providing a phone number.

I was talking about the specific problem that makes you avoid native apps in favor of web apps. Not all native apps are IM programs that ask you to do phone-numbers-based KYC.

ICQ came out around 1997!

Whatever this is, it's not the ICQ from 1997.

The accounts from 1997 are still there, FWIW.

Yowza!!! That’s pretty cool that they kept them but like 90% or more will be abandoned or those junk spam accounts.

This doesn't appear to have anything to do with 1997 ICQ besides the name.

I just logged in with my 23-year-old account, pretty sure it's the same. Kind of unsettling to see all the contacts still there!

That's odd, others are saying their old account doesn't work. I wonder what the difference is. Either way, really interesting it still works.

wild... I haven't been able to use my old account for a very long time... created a new one a few years back, tried that one... neither seem to work...

I don't want to make a new one tied to my phone number.

that's insane. i wish i remembered my credentials

Just as the case with Skype that changed like 3 protocols, 2 architectures and 4 ownerships in its existence. Would you say it has nothing to do with original Skype?

It doesn't seem to share much more than the name.

Users and contacts are still there

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