Android: Difference between revisions

 

=== Texting and calling ===

At this moment, the best choice for texting and calling is the [https://www.signal.org/ Signal] app.<br>

Developed and operated by not-for-profit [[w:Signal Foundation|Signal Foundation]], this app meets all three of the above outlined criteria. It is based on the well-regarded E2EE [[w:Signal Protocol]], developed by the Signal Foundation's co-founder [[w:Moxie Marlinspike|Moxie Marlinspike]] and it has also received an independent audit<ref>https://ia.cr/2016/1013</ref> which did not find any notable flaws or omissions which could result in a breach of privacy.

 

Signal is great for direct one-on-one messaging, small group messaging, voice calls as well as video calls <ref>they're working on group video calls, although they're not currently available</ref>. It also can send and receive SMS, though SMS is not protected by the encryption. Aside from SMS, every other form of communication through the app is end-to-end encrypted.

 

When it comes to peer to peer, there are also couple options, although none are as polished as Signal.

[https://tox.chat/| Tox] is a good peer to peer option. The problem is that the IP address of the conversation participants is transparent. Another major issue is that you cannot send messages unless both parties are online.

[https://briarproject.org/| Briar] solves those issues, but the problem here is that the service is only available on Android. No desktop or iOS options.

[https://getsession.org/| Session Messenger] is a fork of Signal which removes the central server, replacing them with decentralised service nodes, provides a type of Onion routing through the LokiNet thus obfuscating participant's IP addresses and eschews the need for a phone number. However, this is a very new service, and has not been audited and embraced by the privacy community yet, so cation is very much advisable.