I am trying to convince my group to switch from WhatsApp to Signal and we plan to vote on it soon. So, I plan to use the replies in this thread to compile a list of reasons to use as talking points. Preferably, I need something that can be understood on a personal level as some of my friends are deeply cynical and have no concern about escaping techno-feudalism and surveillance.
It doesn’t spam your phone with photos, unless you decide to download them
It doesn’t backup your conversations to your already nearly full, Google owned Drive
Dark mode by default
Not owned by Meta
No frills, I couldn’t care less for “personal stories” or whatever bs Whatsapp has
Basically it is somewhat more respectful of your agency as a user.
…edit: yes you have a setting to toggle backup off. And to change background to whatever you want. And I’m sorry for you, because your deeply cynical friends (your words) probably won’t care about my points either. Because in essence, all my reasons rest on personal values. Which your friends already don’t care about, else they would be complaining about things such as no space on phone or being annoyed at having to change settings for things they don’t want or need.
I use signal but never managed to get rid of WhatsApp. It’s a default app nowadays and most people use it. I constantly deal with random customers and whatnot through it. Only family is on signal. Which is sort of nice, I see a signal notification and know it’s someone important.
Agreed. I can ignore my SMS for a day or two, but when Signal rings, I know it’s someone I actually want to talk to.