Move to XMPP. It's been around long enough to see it's not going anywhere, unlike the rest, and the modern server-client combos have all the needs - e2e encyption, message sync, etc - covered. It's also federated and you can run your own, but you don't have to.
I use Signal daily, while from a cryptographic standpoint it might be the superior choice from a usability perspective it's a mess. It's got a long way to go if it wants to be a credible stand-in replacement for WhatsApp.
I want to like Signal but it's kind of the worst of both worlds for me. Since they absolutely refuse to allow for easy modification of the client it means that I'm stuck with their crappy Electron app on the desktop that lacks some basic features (like being able to select the spellchecking language for instance). I can't script anything, migrating conversation histories between devices is messy and complicated etc... And of course on top of that it easily swallows half a GB of RAM to do all that.
On the other hand if I put myself into a random user's shoes it doesn't "just work" like WhatsApp does. I don't have a web browser client that I can use from anywhere. It doesn't have stickers and stuff like that that seems to be popular on WhatsApp.
It's basically a good crypto library with a terrible UI around it.
> It's basically a good crypto library with a terrible UI around it.
In my experience (after trying it a few times every year for the last few years), even its backend platform is unreliable and slow. So I'd call it as "It's basically a good crypto library with a terrible UI and a flakey backend behind it."
While it's the more secure choice, it's definitely not 'better'. Telegram has a better messaging infrastructure, more reliable, multi-platform (doesn't need a phone), can create identities without a phone number, and (most important, IMO) the quality of life of using the app is far superior.
Use Signal if you absolutely need end to end encryption, extremely secure chat, and no way to use it outside of your phone being on and connected to the Internet.
Use Telegram if you want chat. Don't except high levels of security and for the average user who already uses Facebook Messenger and Instagram, it's good enough.
> […] can create identities without a phone number […]
The number one feature I wish WhatsApp (and Signal) would adopt. I don't care for either service, but that would at least allow me or my partner to occasionally participate in group chats without resorting to buying an Android or IOS smartphone.
People just assume everyone under 60 has WhatsApp in some countries (the Netherlands being one of them), and it borders on being a requirement to function socially.
My partner went to a course for pregnant women, and during the first meeting it was agreed that all communication outside of the meetings would go via WhatsApp, but the course leader would send emails to my partner for changes in scheduling. (My partner has no smartphone, and doesn't want one either, but she owns a modern laptop and works in IT.) So basically any knowledge and questions shared in the group are invisible to her.
This situation is likely to come up again and again as we start raising a child, and all we can do to remedy it is buy a smartphone with one of the pre-approved operating systems, and join the social graph of Facebook…
> Use Signal if you absolutely need end to end encryption, extremely secure chat, and no way to use it outside of your phone being on and connected to the Internet.
You can use Signal on Desktop without your phone being online. (This does not work with WhatsApp.)
Depends on what. You simply cannot beat Telegram when it comes to desktop. Their client has feature parity with the mobile app (except for secret chats) and is fast & native (Qt/C++).
Signal on the other hand has a quite poor desktop app and I find their mobile app a little slow. It usually takes more time for me to open a conversation than with Telegram.
About a week ago the Zimbabwean government blocked access to social media including WhatsApp. The recommendation doing the rounds was to use Telegram because governments cannot block it. I haven't done any research but I went from not having Telegram to at least 30 people in my list having Telegram. It appears to be the way people living under restrictive governments are starting to communicate. What are the issues with Telegram. A few links would suffice.
Telegram - unless you deliberately take action and opt out of cross-device sync for individual chats - stores all your messages in plaintext on their server. If you want your chats secure, you will need to convince everybody you're chatting with to opt out of cross device sync. Good luck with that.
This is in contrast to e.g. Wire, [a near-future release of] Riot.im / Matrix.org, and (AFAICT) Viber, which do end-to-end encryption by default and cross-device without compromises. The messaging providers don't know anything about your chats there. This is the way it should be.
There are also complaints about Telegram's "weird" cryptography, although nobody's ever shown anything close to a practical attack yet, and definitely not for the current version of their custom MTProto protocol. The core problem is really in their insecure-by-default service offering.
