Instant messaging (Whatsapp) alternatives to use on Jolla
asked 2014-02-20 19:50:24 +0200
EDIT: I noticed that this one is still being upvoted, so: please note that this collection is probably fairly outdated - at some point I stopped following up on the development of all the IM apps. If anyone feels inspired to update the information in here, you are very welcome :) /EDIT
I love Mitäkuuluu, but I never trusted the company that ran the server side part of Whatsapp. And I trust it even less now.
So... I am looking for alternatives (sorry coderus). If you consider Android apps, there is a handful of alternatives being talked about currently. However, I do not know whether those will work on my Jolla phone. Do you have any experiences to share about using IM apps like
- Threema
- Kontalk
- ChatSecure
- Telegram
- surespot
- XMPP
- TextSecure
- IRC
- TOX.IM
- Cryptocat
- Viber
- .... (feel free to add others)
on Jolla?
I really would love to try them, but it is not so easy: (a) I would need to convince friends to give them a try too (you probably know how hard this can be) and (b) not all of the apps are free, and even though I will happily pay for an app that works as desired, I don't want to spend money for something that maybe does not work at all.
E.g. Threema is said to work on Jolla and they sell the APK directly, but if I understand correctly it is restricted to polling, having a fixed interval of 15 minutes - which makes it pretty much useless for instant messaging. Obviously I did not understand this correctly - new messages appear pretty instant, see my test results below.
I assume that other apps might have similar issues...
If you have tried any of these or have other suggestions, I would love to hear your experiences... thanks a lot :)
Whatever you do, avoid centralized services, like whatsapp, but also Telegram and perhaps others of your list. Internet was designed to be decentralized, and services like e-mail, xmpp/jabber, bitcoin, bittorrent, etc show that decentralized systems are much more robust and resistant against influence of a single entity - or even a group of entities.
A good decentralized service must provide the possibility to run your own server within the network, if you want to. E-mail still is an excellent example.
Fuzzillogic ( 2014-02-20 20:35:50 +0200 )editthreema app for jolla would be nice
krayne ( 2014-02-20 20:42:22 +0200 )editI know it falls under same mistrust as any centralized messaging, but the system called LINE is simple to use and offers free audio/video calls too.
Acce ( 2014-02-20 20:44:05 +0200 )edityes. i advice to use xmpp and even facebook! you'll that whatsapp is not needed. i also faced before that whatsapp is needed. but jolla realised the accounts (facebook, xmpp) so brillantly - whatsaoo and similar messengers are not needed!
Fedorka ( 2014-02-20 20:46:19 +0200 )edit@Fuzzillogic I'd love to do so, but of course my less technically inclined friends should be able to use it (convenently) too, decentralized services often are not designed for the masses, unfortunately. It is not only the "instant" why people prefer other services over email.... @krayne yes, definitely (still centralized, though)
tokaru ( 2014-02-20 20:48:35 +0200 )edit