Hi all, I was wondering if anyone here had some good recommendations on secure messaging apps that is not just sms based. Currently I'm using TextSecure for sms since they fixed a bug I was having, and thanks to nikky for pointing out they actually fixed it since I wasn't keeping up on the change log for it at all. However, I also use kik for a IM app because a few people I talk too rather use that than sms since its cross platform and they use their itouch or something else more often than their phone, or in my gf's case AT&T has really poor reception in spots around here so she wouldn't always get my texts and kik normally gets through whenever data picks up or on wifi. The downside of kik is that is become really slow to send messages for me as of late, and I doubt it's really "secure". I was wondering if anyone here could recommend something i could try to get my friends to use instead of kik or LINE which I trust about as much as whatsapp. I havn't been able to find something that's as cross platform as kik or has as many features/as polished as the other apps to recommend to people.

A few apps I have found that seem interesting for messaging and/or sms are:
Tinfoil-SMS I don't know much about this app, other than what I've read in the reddit thread.

Threema which you have to pay for and it seems really secure, but im doubting I could get a lot of my friends to switch to it, plus its android only right now.

Telegram which seems polished and appears to be "secure" but I don't trust it much as it seems it really isnt. Read here, and here. In the second link just Ctrl+f for Telegram and its right near the end of page 1/top of page 2. It's also talked about more in the podcast if you wish to listen to it here.

Heml.is which to be honest I don't know much about at all, and it isn't out yet anyways.

myENIGMA which again I don't know much about, it's just something i stumbled upon, and it seems to me to be like whatsapp, just supposed to be "secure". But I can't seem to find much about it, then again I could just be missing something very obvious. I've just found this pdf from their site and of course their FAQ.

Surespot seems to be quite nice and supports audio if you buy it in-app and it doesn't seem as "user-friendly" as say kik or whatsapp which might be a problem for some people I would want to convince to use this.

I guess over-all I'm looking for something to replace kik that's secure and is easy for not-so-smart people to use and like. I quite like TextSecure for sms, and it works nice, but its *just* for sms and I would like something that can do more than just sms, preferably all in one app, but I'm willing to have more than 1 app for messaging as I do now already. I should also point out I've never used LINE or Whatsapp, I just personally don't trust them from thing's I've heard, and I just really don't like them. Thoughts? Comments? Think I'm being paranoid? Any feedback is appreciated. (as long its somewhat constructive)

Edit:
Forgot to mention ChatSecure that elfprince pointed out in the thread, I forgot about this app, and don't know much about it, but something I need to look into too.
textsecure is the bestest
I don't get why you don't use SMS. Most phones can receive texts on WiFi.
Anyway, I use Google Voice, it's easy, secure and you don't need a cell phone to use it. Oh, and it's free.
willwac wrote:
I don't get why you don't use SMS. Most phones can receive texts on WiFi.
Anyway, I use Google Voice, it's easy, secure and you don't need a cell phone to use it. Oh, and it's free.

Mine doesn't receive them on wifi.. I thought that's a t-mobile only thing.
It is a T-Mobile only thing, and only on certain phones with the firmware for it. For instance, my Nexus 5, which works great on T-Mobile, doesn't have support for SMS/Voice over Wifi.

And Google Voice doesn't support MMS, randomly is blocked by carriers, and isn't secure at all wtf.
allynfolksjr wrote:
It is a T-Mobile only thing, and only on certain phones with the firmware for it. For instance, my Nexus 5, which works great on T-Mobile, doesn't have support for SMS/Voice over Wifi.

And Google Voice doesn't support MMS, randomly is blocked by carriers, and isn't secure at all wtf.


Then definitely knocks out the "most phones" thing, same with the google voice thing. Not a good replacement for what I'm looking for.
Have you tried looking for something libpurple based? If you find it, then just use the OTR plugin.

[edit]

ChatSecure uses OTR and supports both Android and iOS.
elfprince13 wrote:
Have you tried looking for something libpurple based? If you find it, then just use the OTR plugin.

[edit]

ChatSecure uses OTR and supports both Android and iOS.


I actually forgot to mention chat secure in my first post, whoops. I had looking into this, and its a valid option, tho for getting most of my friends to switch to it from something else might be bothersome because of "hurr hurr configurations wtf man". I think that is actually something most of them would say sadly. Will look into that one more though and report back on if its fairly easy to do, I think i installed it but gave up fairly quickly for some reason, can't remember why.

Edit: I can't into thinking what I type sometimes.
I used the OTR plugin with Adium and Pidgin for ages and it was pretty convenient, besides being useless because only 2 or 3 friends were also OTRing.
  
Register to Join the Conversation
Have your own thoughts to add to this or any other topic? Want to ask a question, offer a suggestion, share your own programs and projects, upload a file to the file archives, get help with calculator and computer programming, or simply chat with like-minded coders and tech and calculator enthusiasts via the site-wide AJAX SAX widget? Registration for a free Cemetech account only takes a minute.

» Go to Registration page
Page 1 of 1
» All times are UTC - 5 Hours
 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 

Advertisement