Aw helllllllll yeah 😎
Excellent! Since Signal removed SMS support there’s no trusted app supporting old SMS and encrypted messaging on one UI
That old behavior of Signal confused what was encrypted and what isn’t.
It really didn’t. Blue messages encrypted, green not encrypted. There was nothing confusing there
SMS is not to be trusted because it is plain text and full of vulnerabilities.
I know. But I still need it whether I want it or not.
A big hurdle with RCS was carrier adoption, at least in Asia.
I wonder about two things:
- Would Graphene team’s implementation be usable on other devices that are less fortunate to be supported by the OS?
- Would this be a drop-in replacement or would Graphene team need to work with carriers so that their implementation actually work?
On a tangential note, I would really like to read an in-depth analysis of how RCS had such a botched up implementation, which it has still to recover from almost a decade later.
The adoption is nowhere close to what it should have been, and instead it is now more associated with spam than actual communication. The Wikipedia entry does cover a lot of aspects, but it doesn’t explain how it went wrong.
biggest hurdle after that is that it still sucks ass compared to e2ee IM apps, and no one uses SMS nowadays anyway, so we barely benefit from pre existing SMS users that would be able to seemslessly swap to RCS because SMS users don’t really exist, it basically has to face against the network effect of Whatsapp, Facebook messager, iMessage and WeChat, just like Signal has too [face the network effect] while being less secure than Signal and having less features
Everyone i know uses SMS/RCS or iMessages.
Next thing they have to do is add support for realme, huawei and doogee phones or any phone running a certain version of google or having certain specs and letting users take the chance on installation and bricking. Rather than pixel phones only because this is shit not being able to use graphene.
Then tell those phones to meet their security standards.
Unlikely because they have very strict hardware requirements for security reasons. So far only Pixel phones had the required hardware. Motorola is planning to release some GrapheneOS phones in 2027, but they will be very expensive.
Except the 11.
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The number of Europeans in here acting like What’s App, which might as well be Facebook Messenger, is some sort of high road is hilarious.
The number of Eastern Europeans pretending Viber is everything is insane
Yeah I still don’t get why people use or promote WhatsApp. If anything, use Signal or even Telegram
Nah, Signal or Threema
Telegram are you kidding me?? Telegram is a thousand times worse than WhatsApp pal
Not even close lol. The sooner we stop using meta shit the better.
Telegram is worse than even Whatsapp, since it’s not even pretending to be end to end encrypted.
The real choice is signal or threema.
You can’t use Signal or Telegram because your contacts are on WhatsApp, but yes WhatsApp might as well be called Facebook Messenger
Your contacts weren’t always on WhatsApp, stop using it and if they want to talk to you enough they’ll join a better platform. Maybe just keep sending them links every day about how trash WhatsApp and Meta are until they get the point lmao
I have thought this for years. Everyone slimes on Americans for using iMessage and asks who no WhatsApp? Same reason I’m not on facebook, don’t use a meta quest, and don’t use instagram.
WhatsApp does not commit the sin of not having cross platform support at all, it is genuinely the most pratical and easy to use proprietary IM solution besides the network effect
While Whatsapp is not great, the problem with iMessage is that it is (was?) locked exclusively to the apple platform
Yeah, thats the main issue with imessage (and it still is) and if your switching from IOS to android, you have to start over on all of your messages unless if you figure out a way to back them up.
It’s not a good solution, but from a meme in c/selfhosting i learned that through the price of a used mac mini (about $120 at that time) you can selfhost iMessage on mac, and selfhost a 3rd party free software called Bluebubbles, which, as far as i can tell, uses Google and Cloudflare services to convey the iMessages to your Android phone.
I’m sure it is a privacy nightmare. But the shunning for not having iMessage from my own family was getting to me, real or imagined.
That is just so overly complicated, i would rather just start them over🤣🤣
Sure but if you want it to work wirhbpbine number you have to have a phone talk about every seven days.
Literally everyone should just use Signal. I really don’t understand why we all don’t.
Because people stick with the default. There was a time people I know would try different messaging apps but after hangouts got canceled nobody wants to bother.
Because Signal requires a phone number.
Because signal dropped SMS support.
Because Signal 1) doesn’t ship as default, and 2) requires a login process.
You’ve already lost the majority of the general public with #1. The Venn diagram of people who go through with #2 and the people who already know about Signal is nearly a complete circle.
Used to shill XMPP but everyone should use Tox at this point ngl.
- No registration
- No phone number
- It’s impossible to send anything unencrypted
downside: Sharing IDs is annoying (QR code if you are on mobile? idk haven’t tried)
updownsides:
- It does not concern itself with backlog storage (unsent messages sit until at least one device of both parties are online)
- It does not concern itself with file storage (sent - poof, gone)
But the same is true for WhatsApp…
Was true (except for trustworthy encryption). Then network effects took over and peer pressure did the work.
It could happen again in a good way this time, but the resistance will be stiff.
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I use Signal via Molly and as @lka1988@sh.itjust.works points out, there’s friction in getting users to on to it. But also the UX isn’t even as good as WhatsApp let alone Telegram.
what ui? there is a namelist, a call icon, a message icon. what in the hell do you need?
one thing missing is support for Android Tablets, its pissing my GF off on her Samsung Tablet and yet it works for my mother on her ipad ffs
2 weeks now on Graphene. This is what a phone OS should be, simple, boring, juste the basics without a shit-ton of bloatware and spying crap.
This has been available since forever, though. Cyanogenmod/LineageOS was the biggest. Oneplus followed along and I love my OP15, though that’s coming to a bitter end
Cyanogenmod and LineageOS have always felt like hacks upon hacks and always had something broken. While I have my gripes with GOS it’s truly the first time since I have had a custom ROM that just works through and through.
Lineage pales in comparison to what cyanogenmod was
Sure. OxygenOS was also forked from Cyanogen, but OnePlus ended up adding their own UI and (opt-in) apps.
Lineage was forked from the remains of CM. Without Lineage, CM would have died and faded from memory already.
Lol, lineage did nothing to stop that
Where will you go after 1+?
I’m considering the new Motorola line, but I have no clue
It’ll be a while I’m sure, but I’m here for it 🙌🏾
Good. Everything Google touches needs to be forked.
Fork Google
We keep trying, but the courts are ok with monopolies.
They suddenly care about monopolies whenever a major competitor threatens to shift the balance of the market by providing alternatives…
fork it right out the ass
Goggle!
Lougle! If you get that reference lol
Go fork yourself
Very much needed.
This has been missing for yearsI switched away from e/OS for this very reason. As much as I hate SMS based communications it just isn’t practical to ditch them completely in the US. It’s simply too widespread.
you got only RCS available, no old school SMS? I was relieved I exited the Google’s RCS.
I’ve been using JMP.chat/Cheogram for this personally
For those who got too excited by the title: read the original messages from the GrapheneOS. RCS de-facto is not an open technology, there’s a massive amount of work and multiple steps are needed to get anywhere near the proper independent implementation. It’s gonna be amazing if the GrapheneOS team pulls it off, but don’t get too excited about the release dates and its availability for other systems (e.g. Linux).
To be honest, I’d rather they use the effort elsewhere (as a very happy gOS user). The number of people on gOS who wouldn’t prefer Signal (without phone number rego) / Threema etc. is probably vanishingly small, but that takes going up against the incumbents with heavy resistance.
There’s only so many irons you can keep in the fire. That said, gOS devs (sans drama) are freaking awesome, and seems to keep growing in number, if they can pull it off it will be a true coup.
That’s true on one hand, but on the other there are also family and friends with who we still want/need to communicate via the “normies” protocols, and it’s better to do it without explicit spyware on your phone (aka Play Services or Whatsapp). So yeah, it’s an absolutely ungrateful work what they’re doing, but huge thanks to them for that.
What the fuck is RCS?
It’s the next gen sms, with features to bring it closer to parity with popular messaging apps
while still being horrible
Ok so RCS is basically WhatsApp/Signal but Google(+Carriers) but retarded:
- The client software is propiertary and screws you over when you e.g. root your phone
- They finally realized that E2EE exists - 10 years after everyone else implemented it
- You can’t view the docs unless you’re a Google Partner
- The protocol seems to be a mess
- You need a mobile data connection for it to work (sometimes not)
- Knowbody knows how the server software works or can be hosted, everything is “Google Jibe” or needs to connect to it to work
whatsApp […] But retarded
Huh? That’s literally a Meta platform… Doesn’t get much worse than that. I’d sooner just use SMS
AFAIK this is SMS… Well, they are using RCS to hijack it. So you start SMS conversation and if both parties have it enabled or will switch to their protocol. Kind of what iMessage does.
Yeah, I keep RCS disabled on my phone and preferably would replace it with another app, but didn’t know a good alternative.
What’s app is owned by Mark Zuckerberg and Meta.
What messaging service works without a data connection?
3G is shut down and 2G will follow soon.
- GOS will code a proprietary client, like Whatsapp? I doubt…
- It’s E2E with 3 ends, the 3rd one being Meta, like Whatsapp?
- There is no doc available, like Whatsapp?
- The server is as closed as one can be like Whatsapp?
Frankly, if one actor gets in RCS and gives me confidence it’s going to be secure and respect our privacy as much as can be, it’s GOS.
RCS might be below some other standards, but phone messaging is still a thing. GOS is not about idealistic massive adoption of Signal, it’s about what’s needed in the day-to-day life, but with privacy and security.
I think it’s texts for people who don’t use Signal or WhatsApp, so… nobody I have ever met, I guess
I am suprised that it took this long to find someone that mentions how RCS will need to fight the network effect of pre existing IM apps thanks to no one using SMS in 2026 (for good reason, it is genuinely garbage and unsafe)
It is literally a standardized communication protocol. That is what iMessage is
iMessage is anything but a standardized protocol with crossplatform support
what did you drink? are you ok?
You’re correct. EU users didn’t adopt, or at least continue to utilize, SMS based messaging like users in the US did. This is not a problem for anyone using web based messaging like the ones you mentioned.
I’m quite surprised by the reaction this comment has received, are Americans genuinely still using SMS? Don’t they need to have group chats, send pictures, transfer files, make audio and video calls, or make use of encryption?
it’s trying to extend the sms/mms system
Replace, not extend.
extend only, it will fallback to SMS, and guess what? who the fuck even uses SMS and MMS nowadays?
Isn’t that a possible reason why my my
e/OS/phone can’t send text messages, nor call, some numbers. (In France, where many people use meta shit like whatsapp and facebook messenger, and won’t be interested in another messenging app like signal, delta chat, etc)it is as convenient for the users as sms/mms, unlike signal/telegram/whatsapp
Sounds like you haven’t met anyone. Or more likely, it’s everyone not-you who is weird.
Sounds like you never have been to Europe…
I have and I’m not sure I get your point. I have an ability to understand how other people use technology. Which is aided by travel, not hindered by it.
sounds like you live in the land of the free, I mean the land of forced to use SMS becausd apple NPCs can’t be bothered to use a proper IM service
Genuinely nobody I know has sent an SMS message for at least a decade, who are you still sending SMS to in this day and age when internet-based messengers exist?
Ever heard of older people or just less techy ones? Guess not. I always find it weird when people get on some high horse about sms or any other tech topic. By the way you talk, one would think you literally think hundreds of millions or more people don’t use a texting capability built-in to their phone. But you clearly don’t think that. You apparently just have a need to “other” people who do use it.
Ps. You live in a world where people still use fax machines, checks, floppy disks, and AOL over dialup. People use old tech. It’s not that crazy and much of it has to do with older people not liking change.
Look, I’m not trying to be a smartarse here, I’m genuinely interested in different ways people use technology. I am telling you that every person I know, regardless of age, defaults to using WhatsApp for communications; even my elderly relatives.
Ok, perhaps I misjudged you. For me, even younger people typically don’t use other messengers besides sms. I’ve only ever successfully gotten like 5 people to install signal. The other most popular messengers in the us, Facebook messenger and Whatsapp, are probably much worse for privacy than sms, due to meta ownership.
I hope it’s functionally installable on other versions of android
I hope it can finally bring this piece of shit messaging protocol to Linux phones so my friends and family know when I read a message
Just move them to signal :)
You can always use Waydroid
If you phone is X:
https://github.com/1999AZZAR/use-waydroid-on-x11#installing-a-nested-wayland-compositor
The waydroid devs said not to use way droid for anything security related. This is bad advice.
I’m not seeing that anywhere, got a link?
Search their github issues for “security”
Everything they make is open source, so even if they don’t officially support it, someone else will probably fork it and upload it somewhere.
I’m sure it will install, but if it needs some system level thing it won’t actually work. It depends how they implement it.
I read installable and instable, I was like 🫠
Patiently waiting for supported devices expansion and no i don’t want them to rush, i just don’t want to buy a new phone to be free of Google.
Pixel 4a is great and less than $100
I bought a second hand pixel 8 pro.
I get the vibe there’s not much intention to expand compatibility.
They require certain features that most phones don’t have in order to be willing to support them. They want phones with GrapheneOS to be impossible to break into even by sophisticated methods such as Cellbrite so it defeats the purpose if it can be circumvented by methods that don’t involve the OS.
Wait, is my GrapheneOS phone unlikely to be hackable by Cellbrite? That’s kind of amazing, I had no idea.
Not hard to achieve. Any zero days cdllbrite finds will be fixed by aosp asap.
Encryption works.
My current daily driver is an HMD Skyline and it’s been great thus far and repairability is good but it isn’t listed anywhere as being supported by alternative OSs.
The skyline has a locked bootloader that can’'t be unlocked by users.
Wasn’t aware of that… well shit…
They’re working with Motorola to make a device
It’s supposed to be out next year but only the highest end devices will be supported because GrapheneOS requires certain security features in the firmware and hardware that Pixel 11, the lower end Motorola devices, and the other brands don’t/won’t have.
Seems like Pixel 11 has the hardware but they turned the Arm Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) off in firmware for ‘performance’ reasons. gOS has been able to turn it back on, but the jury’s still out on whether they’ll support it as I understand it.
I looked at Motorola’s current devices to get a sense and it’s pretty sad. My plan of sticking with my used 1TB 9 Pro (non XL) holds. Honestly I need to look at phone insurance because I want to ride this thing out the full 7 years of support.
Only phones that can have the bootloader relocked by Graphene will be supported. New Motorola phones are coming but they will be expensive. Get a Pixel (not 11).
That’s just one of the things required for graphene, there are a lot of hardware security features that are also required. Only Pixels (not Pixel 11) have these so far, but the Motorola phones will change that of course.
As of now, for clarification, Pixels 6-10 series, Tablet and Fold are supported by GrapheneOS. The new Motorola phones releasing next year will also support GrapheneOS.
For clarification, only some Motorola phones, likely expensive flagship models, for now.
Yeah but can you really trust pixels? Google hardware, ewww. I would rather pay more for proper hardware
Google put out a surprising amount of documentation that allowed graphene to build everything they needed from the ground up. It basically wasn’t possible to do anything as secure and independent of Google software on any other model.
Ironically, the phone Google makes is the only option right now to get fully away from Google. Motorola is working with graphene to release a model that meets the main criteria, but it’s not out yet.
Buying a Google phone in order to get rid of Google seems sort of counterproductive, doesn’t it?
Exactly why i would like to have on the phone i have now.
