Off topic, Ron, but I’d be grateful to know what you use for messaging, particularly if you are communicating with other iOS/Android users.
If you’ve seen this set of studies by Trinity College, Dublin, it seems that most iOS and Android communications are heavily tracked by Apple or Google.
Signal
Thanks very much.
For cross-platform messaging allow me to make a plug here for Threema.
Threema is an open source cross-platform E2E encrypted messaging service (with support for audio/video chat and media/file transfer) that emphasizes keeping as little data as possible server side. In addition to keeping most of your data on device, they are headquartered and run their servers in Switzerland which means a) outside of the US/UK and b) in a liberal democracy that has a demonstrated record for taking privacy very seriously. No name, address, or phone number is required. There’s no ads or trackers because you are not the product, you pay for the actual product. The app costs a one-time $6.
Not quite. Yes, the devices communicate with their respective servers on a regular basis, but that’s not the same as “tracking communications.” iMessage is encrypted, Apple has no idea what you’re communicating, but location of your device is necessary for all messaging platforms.
Signal is great and while becoming a bit more widely used it’s still in the category of apps you have to check folks are using. Very difficult in Europe to get folks off WhatsApp, even if they are on the iPhone. My geek pals here also use Telegram but I don’t like using it, don’t trust it frankly.
I’ve noticed that myself. Where does this come from? I’ve always wondered why it’s so different here compared to over there. Is it related to many Europeans having had (or at least having endured for much longer) limits on texts/month or actually per text charges? I can’t remember when I was last charged for texts here in the States.
The historical monthly limit/charges on texts (now completely gone effectively) is part of it. The prevalence of Android the other half of the picture.
It is almost impossible to remove Meta from your digital life here. I can ignore FB, I can stay away from IG, but WhatsApp… nope.
In South Africa and several other African countries (I believe), text messaging limits push people to other services. As a result many South Africans use WhatsApp as a general messenger service, or at least did when I last visited a few years ago.
Whatsapp took several international markets many years ago and has become almost the standard messaging application in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and many parts of Asia. It is hard to convince friends or family to use anything else…
We started using WhatsApp when we lived in Kenya and Uganda and our son and his family were in Uganda, Jordan, and Hungary. It allowed us to send long texts, pictures, and files without having to worry about text message limitations. Even after being in the US for almost 10 years, we still use it for most of our family communications and with overseas friends.