We are still in a trust me bro situation
No we're not. You don't have to trust Signal, everything is open source, you can actually verify it.
it’s not really different from Whatsapp or Telegram
That's not true. WhatsApp is fully proprietary and Telegram doesn't use E2EE by default. And even if you enable it, they use a weak encryption protocol.
Well, you can still insert client side decryption into the app.
That's why all clients are fully open-source. You can also use a fork like Molly.
your conversations are still tied to Google
That's simply false. Signal Notifications never include the content of the message or any metadata, no matter if they're sent over FCM, APN, WebSockets or UnifiedPush (via mollysocket). That wouldn't even be possible, since the Signal server sending out the notification doesn't even have the key to decrypt the message. Only the users involved in the conversation have the keys, that's how end-to-end encryption works. Signal simply sends an empty message via FCM (or any other push system), and the Signal app on your device then receives and decrypts the encrypted message and shows you a preview of the message content as a notification on your operating system.
And every build of the Signal client for WhatsApp also supports WebSockets as a fallback push notification system, in case Play services aren't installed or can't be reached. The only reason why FCM is used by default is that it saves some battery, because it only maintains one background network connection for all apps, instead of each app handling notifications themselves.
I personally have them hosted on fly.io for free via the legacy hobby plan
Here's the link for anyone who's interested: https://github.com/pcrockett/mollysocket-fly
so the company can be bought
The company (Signal Messenger LLC) is fully owned by Signal Foundation, a 501(c)3 non profit organization.
Try to use federated services
I generally like this idea, and I also use federated services for things like social media, that's why we're having a discussion here on Lemmy. But it introduces some issues with private messaging, like lack of reliability, which sucks if you want to use Matrix as your primary messenger, as well as metadata leaks. Federation is not always the answer, and in my opinion definitely not when it comes private and secure messaging.
they are more robust against hostile take overs
Probably around 80-90% of Matrix users are on the matrix.org homeserver, so it's absolutely not as decentralized and resilient as you think it is.
I currently use Telegram for my friends and family
Telegram is probably the worst thing you could use, it doesn't encrypt messages by default and they are stored on Telegram's servers, so they can read them at any time.
I'm also on Element/Matrix. Before I try to get my contacts to join me on there, should I be aware of any privacy issues
Yes, Matrix leaks a bunch of metadata and doesn't have post-quantum encryption.
The best option is to use Signal. It uses end-to-end encryption by default for everything: Normal chats, group chats, voice and video calls and even stories. Messages are only stored on their servers (in encrypted format, so they can't access them) until you receive them, after which they are promptly deleted and only stored on your device. And Signal has much better metadata protection than Matrix. The UX is also much better and less confusing, making onboarding new users much easier.
It's still commercial, proprietary software
Thanks for making this useful and informative post for new users, but I unfortunately have to remove it, since it's not related to piracy. You can post this in another community like !newtolemmy@lemmy.ca.
Germany also has this, it's called Rundfunkbeitrag, but it's often just referred to as GEZ-Gebühr, because it's enforced by the Gebühreneinzugszentrale, or GEZ for short. They didn't classify computers as TVs, but they also enforce it for FM radios, including those installed in cars, so you basically can't get around it.
Oh that's the only one I know of. I thought that this is what you're referring to.