I use WhatsApp and frankly it works super nice, has a very well functioning browser desktop app, and us just polished.
Signal is missing loads of features, is very hard to use, non intuitive, the desktop app continuously loses connection with the client, it’s a mess to use and as such I only use it with the one client I have left that still wants it.
Make signal polished and I’ll switch right away but right now it’s a mess.
I actually hate the new whatsapp desktop app on windows. They somehow managed to turn it into this nearly unusable mess, where absolutely everything is super slow (5950x CPU be damned), most times textboxes just refuse to take focus and you just don’t type at all until you click on something other than whatsapp and then click back in, and the app sometimes just completely disappears from my Taskbar. I’ve noticed similar trends of bugginess on the android app, every now and then the textbox will just shoot up to the top of the screen, or just behave erratically. Feels like I’m watching the spiritual rebirth of post-MS acquisition Skype.
That’s strange, the WhatsApp app on my mobile hasn’t glitched ever and I’ve been using it for like 5-8 years or so? I can’t even remember since when.
Can’t talk about the desktop app as I don’t use that, I use the browser app which is always amazingly well with the few exceptions where sometimes they make an update and then it doesn’t load for a few days, but this has happened only twice in all the time since I’ve used it
Almost every time I start it, it’s disconnected from my phone app. Plus it’s not a browsers app,like WhatsApp. And when I reconnect it, it’s missing parts that I have on my phone.
I’d say, try WhatsApp,just to see the difference. I use both and the difference is night and day, WhatsApp is factors better than signal.
There is more things to do than just sending text messages
I don’t remember and can’t find a post I saw in the past recommending better video chat applications for more than two users. I believe one was Jitsi and another Wire. I just found another video conferencing application someone recommended online: MiroTalk. Different open source software excel in different areas.
Sorry, I just realized this post is about instant messaging platforms and not specifically their video chat features.
I like Element better because of its Markdown capabilities (though still very limited) and the ability to edit messages. I used element for my team coding projects in college, which worked very well and integrated nicely with our GitHub updates, but it sucked for video conferences. Signal barely holds up for two-user video chats, though that could be my internet or someone else’s.
I also want to self host my own XMPP server someday.
There is Revolt. Maybe younger people will like that more.
The problem there is that it doesn’t matter what one person likes, you’ll end up using what everybody uses. If I have a great chat app with nobody to talk to its kind of missing the point
To be fair, signal does suck.
I use WhatsApp and frankly it works super nice, has a very well functioning browser desktop app, and us just polished.
Signal is missing loads of features, is very hard to use, non intuitive, the desktop app continuously loses connection with the client, it’s a mess to use and as such I only use it with the one client I have left that still wants it.
Make signal polished and I’ll switch right away but right now it’s a mess.
I actually hate the new whatsapp desktop app on windows. They somehow managed to turn it into this nearly unusable mess, where absolutely everything is super slow (5950x CPU be damned), most times textboxes just refuse to take focus and you just don’t type at all until you click on something other than whatsapp and then click back in, and the app sometimes just completely disappears from my Taskbar. I’ve noticed similar trends of bugginess on the android app, every now and then the textbox will just shoot up to the top of the screen, or just behave erratically. Feels like I’m watching the spiritual rebirth of post-MS acquisition Skype.
That’s strange, the WhatsApp app on my mobile hasn’t glitched ever and I’ve been using it for like 5-8 years or so? I can’t even remember since when.
Can’t talk about the desktop app as I don’t use that, I use the browser app which is always amazingly well with the few exceptions where sometimes they make an update and then it doesn’t load for a few days, but this has happened only twice in all the time since I’ve used it
I get the same but with the apps switched. Whatsapp feels bloated and while it has a few nice animations it definitely feels heavy.
Signal has a great UI and does the native design better than Apple/Google. I also appreciate that it has a decent photo editor built in.
Desktop app never lost connection for me. How do you even manage to do that?
And what’s unintuitive there? You just click a name and chat, not sure how much more intuitive it can be.
Almost every time I start it, it’s disconnected from my phone app. Plus it’s not a browsers app,like WhatsApp. And when I reconnect it, it’s missing parts that I have on my phone.
I’d say, try WhatsApp,just to see the difference. I use both and the difference is night and day, WhatsApp is factors better than signal.
There is more things to do than just sending text messages
I don’t remember and can’t find a post I saw in the past recommending better video chat applications for more than two users. I believe one was Jitsi and another Wire. I just found another video conferencing application someone recommended online: MiroTalk. Different open source software excel in different areas.
Sorry, I just realized this post is about instant messaging platforms and not specifically their video chat features.
I like Element better because of its Markdown capabilities (though still very limited) and the ability to edit messages. I used element for my team coding projects in college, which worked very well and integrated nicely with our GitHub updates, but it sucked for video conferences. Signal barely holds up for two-user video chats, though that could be my internet or someone else’s.
I also want to self host my own XMPP server someday.
There is Revolt. Maybe younger people will like that more.
The problem there is that it doesn’t matter what one person likes, you’ll end up using what everybody uses. If I have a great chat app with nobody to talk to its kind of missing the point