My niece has an old iphone with no SIM/phone number. Only wifi internet access.
Looking for an app for both of us to be able to chat
She cant chat with me over signal because no phonee number. She chats with the rest of the family over imessage, but i have an android phone
Is there an app available for both android and iphone to let me chat with her?
Thanks
Edit: willing to self-host for extra privacy. My nieces and nephews are all young children so i definitely want to encourage/educate them to get off corporate controlled communications channels
Matrix / element
To expand with my personal experience, I self host a synapse server partly for the reason that i want my children (aged 8-14 now) to have a communication platform they can access to get ahold of me with out requireing a sim card. I do not federate, and i do not allow account sign ups. That keeps a pretty isolated instance while still allowing everyone on that homeserver to be able to talk to each other.
I help them get Element setup on each device. I dont think this is overly complicated, but i am sure i am a horrible judge of complexity… They have to enter the url of the server, then their password, then they need to scan a qr code/verify from an existing device. Or, they need to enter a second passcode to verify their identity. I help them keep those secrets in bitwarden, so imo, that complexity is an opportunity to explain some opsec and encryption!
This
Jabber (XMPP) or Matrix/Element.
Https://snikket.org will get you started with XMPP easily.
Conversations on Android and Siskin on iOS.
One non-techie parent has Siskin running on their iPhone and it hasn’t skipped a beat in years of messaging using omemo-encrypted XMPP. For servers, they’re on tigase.im and I’m on conversations.im.
Here’s a guide on optimum siskin settings; I don’t know if defaults are better now or not.
Conversations.im is free on fdroid but it’s well worth paying something to the developer directly.
“I remember my uncle, he used to force us to use some janky app to talk to him because he was afraid of the big corporations spying on him”
Except they literally do. It’s even acknowledged in the mainstream media.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/16/technology/snowden-spying-big-tech.html
What’s frightening is that people more or less agree with this, but they have apathy to the point of making up excuses for it. Humanity is remarkably adaptable, and if they can adapt to supporting slavery or genocide, they will and they still do. Never mind things that are less terrible.
Sadly, I agree.
Oh so that’s why you don’t have a brain chip lma… (wait 5 seconds to skip ad)… o
My friends and I all use Simplex and have been very happy. There’s an annoying feature where messages in group chats are sometimes delivered out of order, but it’s easy enough to live with.
SimpleX.
Matrix would be good ig.
https://simplex.chat/ is probably the best option today
The app is great and the server is very easy to self host.
Threema.
It costs $5 dollars, so you’re less likely to be the product. Highly private. Includes some open source code. Audited. Android and iOS. Doesn’t require phone number.
Here are the settings I recommend during first setup: Tap next instead of making a Threema Safe password Tap next instead of entering your phone number Turn off “Sync contacts”
Signal v7 with username IDs is right around the corner. I’d suggest you wait a few weeks if you can.
If you want to use imessage on android:
https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-use-imessage-android/
(includes self-hosting options)
If you want to use whatsapp:
If someone else has an old (and/or prepay) sim which can receive texts, you can authenticate whatsapp that way. IRC you can also authenticate with a landline. Install whatsapp using the landline number, wait for SMS authentication to fail, then it should ask to call you. Say yes, and you’ll get a call with the authentication code. Et voila.
My nieces and nephews are all young children so i definitely want to encourage/educate them to get off corporate controlled communications channels
Good luck with that, is all I can say. Kids are very susceptible to peer pressure, especially as they enter their teen years. It’s only when they’re in their late teens that they’ll open up again and start becoming more critical.
WTH dude… You can send letters. Unfortunately it’s IRL only and isn’t at all what you asked for
I’m aware of the community this is posted in, but my kid talks to her grandparents via the chat features in Google photos. Works over WiFi with specific contacts and no phone number required. It lets her show them pictures she’s drawn.
Google are involved of course, but there’s no algorithm pushing promoted posts or any of that BSWow, I am so so much against your suggestion, but I have to upvote you, for your bravery.
To add something constructive: The app Element as a Matrix client works good for me.
jisti, nextcloud talk, element matrix …go big: IRC
Would be so cool if my kids and nieces/nephews used IRC!!
You can also try Jami.
Use caution as there hasn’t been a security audit
I was going to recommend Tox, but I don’t think there have been any iPhone clients with up-to-date development for years.
FYI, last week someone saw that Signal merged in code for username (no phone number) support. So it might not be long until you see a beta release which allows you to sign up without a phone number.
