this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2025
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Let's see if this finally gets people to switch. Remember to warn them about Telegram (not private and not EU friendly).

top 23 comments
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[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

XMPP, Tox, Matrix, SimpleX, Molly-FOSS, Anonymous Messenger... are all built with freedom in mind.

[โ€“] [email protected] 14 points 2 days ago (3 children)

It's funny how they write this blog post. They try to explain how they serve ads in 3 different flavors and it's all to help you find what you need !

And I am still the annoying tinfoil-hat-wearing asshole how doesn't have WhatsApp.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

B-b-butโ€ฆ users can find new businesses!!!! And start chats with them directly!!!!!!!!!1!1!1!! To discuss the product or service being offered!!!!!1!1!1!1!1!11!1!1"!!!1!1!1 Who wouldn't want that??????

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

LOL yeah.

But seriously though, ads are deigned so that companies find more customers. Who cares what the customers want, need or buy. As long as the company gets the money, itโ€™s ad money well spent.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah ! Aren't you always on the lookout for new business to get products from ?!?

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

I for one have a quiet and dull WhatsApp experience. Plenty of dead chats and useless groups. But not for long. Soon I'll be able to easily hit up HP to discuss their new 3 year monthly subscription plan that allows me 10 prints a month with HP approved paper if each and every HP proprietary cartridge has at least 50% ink

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

Gaslighting at its finest.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

And I am still the annoying tinfoil-hat-wearing asshole how doesn't have WhatsApp.

I see it the other way around: I gave nobody permission to give my contact data, phone number, or mail address to Facebook and Google. Still, many people do. I do not see this as being kind.

[โ€“] Sunshine 10 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Everyone should use Matrix instead!

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Matrix is also very heavy on system resources. What's wrong with XMPP or Tox? If it ain't broke...

[โ€“] Sunshine 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Iโ€™m not very familiar with XMPP though I know itโ€™s the default messager on slrpnk.net I havenโ€™t heard about Tox unfortunately.

I just really like the Fluffy Chat app and Iโ€™m on a good instance where the protocol works pretty smoothly for me.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

I've also used Matrix and Fluffychat, and it works fine, but even just considering the electricity consumption of the server compared to something like XMPP, it seems wasteful unless there is a real need to use Matrix-exclusive features or clients. Of course some people on older/low-end hardware might also experience issues based on the resources that Matrix requires. I have nothing against it, but I question whether it should be considered the default when there are in fact other options available and have been for years.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Matrix sucks! At least suggest something that has even half the features a modern Messenger needs and not this buggy hell of a protocoll with the usability of an airplane cockpit!

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

What, in your opinion, is the best protocol then? I want something that is decentralized, but also really user-friendly, with mobile apps on both android and IOS. The apps UI should not look outdated, and it would be great if it supports voice and video chat. It should of course also be secure.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

SimpleX chat perhaps? The link thing might be a bit hard to understand at first though, but then itโ€™s easy. Just tell them to open your link

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I guess you're out of luck then. I'm not aware of a single usable decentralized Messenger.

~~Slack kind of works I guess~~. (nvmd, Slack nowadays is cloud only) But other than that it's just a bunch of hobby projects held together by enthusiasm and luck.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Would you mind linking this please? Iโ€™ve been looking for a WhatsApp replacement, EU based ideally, any other options you know of?

[โ€“] Sunshine 11 points 2 days ago

Fluffy Chat

Matrix Protocol

Matrix Official Website

Matrix is a secure decentralized protocol that has third-party apps.

You can try out the instances: Tchncs.de ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช and Tedomum.net ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท

The sidebar has more options for you to check out.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

If you want a EU-based messenger I suggest Threema. The key-management aspect of it is kind of annoying, but it's still leagues better than Matrix in terms of feature completenes, usability and just general polish.

Matrix in its current state is a toy for nerds who are ready to dive into the jankiness and can spare the time to fix their broken messenger every once in a while. Amd the best part is, Matrix itself isn't even usable. It has no UI, it's just the protocoll. So you need some third party app to be able to even use it. And not a single one of these apps implements all of the features of the protocoll.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 8 hours ago

Or self-host XMPP server on low-end VPS, it'd cost you few euros a month and you can provide E2EE service to your friends and family. It'll cost less than Threema and you will be in control of your data.

[โ€“] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Realistically, the majority of people will not switch to threema @ โ‚ฌ5.99. It's already extremely difficult to get people to leave WhatsApp. They're not going to pay for it.

https://european-alternatives.eu/category/instant-messaging-apps

Signal isn't EU based, but afaik not profiteering or harvesting data.

EDIT:

There are quite a few EU based according to this.

https://alternativeto.net/software/facebook-messenger/?origin=eu

https://alternativeto.net/software/whatsapp/?origin=eu

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

Signal isn't EU based, but afaik not profiteering or harvesting data.

If anything is gonna replace Whatsapp it's gonna be Signal. At least going by what's currently available.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

Legit the first time my wife is interested in switching to something different