The only one I trust is Briar.

Imo, I think Signal is a good “normie-oriented secure messenger”, but I think Simplex is more worthy of focus.

I convinced my non-tech nerd partner to switch to Matrix and it’s been working suprisingly well for us.

Trust leads to the dark side

I don’t trust Signal. Haven’t used it since it went down when people and capitol rioters fled WhatsApp and signed up. My understanding is it’s a brittle centralized system just like WhatsApp.

AND back when I did use it, the app had dark patterns that included spamming all your contacts when you set up the app.

Matrix still needs work, but it is the future in this space.

Signal is encrypted but they still feed meta data to Alphabet boys

Make no mistake that it is part of the us security apparatus.

While for most it really doesn’t matter, take note where we are heading in light of the recent adjustment to a affluent parasites life.

Who do you think the spooks will side during the first corpo war?

We just don’t know but they will know who you keep in touch with…

I’d also recommend taking a look at Threema.

I think their product direction is a bit better. Particularly as Signal still shows a message that they don’t back sync messages before you paired devices “for your security” … Threema also doesn’t back sync messages in their beta multi device setup, but that seems to be more less of a product stance and more of a “we just don’t do it yet.”

Threema is definitely missing some features like emoji reactions, stories, and a builtin cryptocurrency (which depending on your stances might be pros or cons).

Both apps have definitely gotten better over the years; I think Threema’s multi device support has really drained resources on their side so there hasn’t been as much outward feature work. I’m hoping it won’t be terribly long until that changes.