Signal

What hackers pick instead

• BitchatBluetooth mesh chat app that works without internet or cell service, useful in outages and emergencies. Main caveat: critics say its security is weak and it only reaches people nearby.56recommend
• ElementFree encrypted Matrix chat app that works across platforms and video calls well; critics say it is slow and buggy.50recommend
• BriarFree, open-source encrypted messenger that works without internet via Bluetooth or local Wi-Fi, valued for censorship resistance. Main caveat: Android only, with short range and slow delivery.50recommend
• Delta ChatRecommended as a private, encrypted messenger that runs over ordinary email and needs no phone number. Critics agree the interface is rough and less polished.48recommend
• SimpleX ChatRecommended for strong metadata privacy and no phone number or account; open source and audited. Common caveat: Android battery drain and harder usability.45recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 1292 comments. Each links to the original.

1. OMEMO (the encryption scheme used by 'modern' XMPP systems) uses the same double-ratchet encryption as Signal without the dependency on a central Signal server.

   Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “EU now one step away from reviving private message scanning rules”

2. Signal accounts do not require a SIM. There is no requirement that the phone you use for running the app Signal has the phone number you use for Signal login.

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in ““Super secure” messaging app leaks everyone's phone number”

3. Signal cannot use phone numbers to identify usernames BUT Signal can use usernames to identify phone numbers IF AND ONLY IF that username is in active use.

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in ““Super secure” messaging app leaks everyone's phone number”

4. Better to help millions resist the dragnet of surveillance by ISPs, governments, and large organizations then to have perfect security for a few.

   Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Signal knows who you're talking to (2023)”

5. You can set your phone number discovery to None and even your contacts cannot find you unless you explicitly message them or share your username

   Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Signal knows who you're talking to (2023)”

6. you don't even have to do https://signal.org/android/apk/ b) can pull from your phone to compare the apk hash against reproducibly built client

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Telegram Desktop vulnerability allowed any user's file to be stolen”

7. So in terms of privacy, Signal is actually very good about the phone number and leaves it mostly to you how public you want to be about it.

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Discord Alternatives, Ranked”

8. Signal has better security and privacy guarantees than Telegram and is probably what ordinary people should be using instead of Telegram.

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Most Americans Say "Not in My Backyard" to AI Data Centers”

9. Signal is so valuable because it has good e2e, it's popular, and whoever you want to talk to is likely to have at least heard of signal

   Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Signal knows who you're talking to (2023)”

10. Signal is taking advantage of the inherent camouflage of crowds, once you insist on standing out that's gone and you can't get it back.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Molly (Signal fork) has not been updated since 3 months and is vulnerable”

11. The two clients coexisted awkwardly for years, with Signal iOS as a pure modern messenger and Signal Android as a hybrid SMS client.

    Mixed · Dec 2025 · in ““Super secure” messaging app leaks everyone's phone number”

12. if you build from source (or use a reproducible build) you can check to be pretty sure you have the same software as everyone else

    Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Web-based cryptography is always snake oil”

13. With reproducible builds like Signal does you can be sure the app you've downloaded matches the source code that's been audited

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Meta Shuts Down End-to-End Encryption for Instagram Messaging”

14. Signal's client is open source for myriad of reasons, the most pressing of which is verifiable cryptographic implementations.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in ““Super secure” messaging app leaks everyone's phone number”

15. Signal is way better because it opts out iCloud backups (and Android backups) in favor of truly end-to-end encrypted backups.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “GrapheneOS Overhauled Default Apps and Secure Clipboard”

16. That's enough of a reason for anyone who cares about privacy and security to choose Signal over WhatsApp any day of the week.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Signal knows who you're talking to (2023)”

17. as long as Signal controls the client app, there are very possible court orders to provide access to "encrypted" user chats

    Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Telegram's t.me domain has been suspended”

18. If the users' communications are encrypted — which they are — there is no way for the creator to "reflect his world view"

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Signal knows who you're talking to (2023)”

19. Most Signal users aren't subject to MITM attacks and establish secure end-to-end connections with zero effort or thought.

    Recommends · Nov 2026 · in “Understanding Email Encryption (2025)”

20. most of Signal's and even WhatsApp's tradeoffs are reasonable for a product with an adaption of hundreds of millions

    Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Nature's many attempts to evolve a Nostr”

21. He actively blocked attempts by the community to put Signal in f-droid, so in cases where it is the system package manager, automated signed reproducible builds can be updated painlesssly.

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “Signal is working on a paid option to create an account without a phone number”

22. Personally, I think their refusal to update their privacy policy is a big fat dead canary warning users that the service has been compromised and shouldn't be trusted.

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Registration without a phone number on Signal will use zero-knowledge proofs”

23. Any service that markets itself to whistleblowers and activists then also outright lies to them about the risks they take when using it can't be trusted for anything.

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “TikTok won't protect DMs with E2EE, saying it would put users at risk”

24. It's a bad look for a service that advertises itself to whistleblowers, activists, and others whose lives and/or freedom depend on that information being safe.

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “Signal is working on a paid option to create an account without a phone number”

25. The fact that Signal users are still unaware of where their data is going and when should tell you all you need to know about how trustworthy the service is.

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Microsoft Can't Keep EU Data Safe from US Authorities”

26. Signal has all the same means of (meta)data harvesting and analyzing as Meta. It can't be made different: this is built into their very centralised service.

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Signal knows who you're talking to (2023)”

27. If I know that two users that are identified by their phone numbers are talking to each other every day, this is a clear connection you can exploit.

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Discord Alternatives, Ranked”

28. One of the most frustrating decisions from them was to stop allowing signal to be a catch-all messenger for encrypted and non-encrypted messages.

    Criticizes · Oct 2026 · in “Molly (Signal fork) has not been updated since 3 months and is vulnerable”

29. I consider their refusal to update their privacy policy to be a massive dead canary warning people that the service has already been compromised

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Microsoft Can't Keep EU Data Safe from US Authorities”

30. Signal would have had a better time if it had opened the idea that they don't have to be the ultimate authority and intermediate message broker

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Signal knows who you're talking to (2023)”

31. Thing about the signal APK and the Guardian one is that, it still have the so called "crap" in the final APK, it just runs a background service

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Molly: An Improved Signal App”

32. As soon as Signal gets a whiff of even a stub of Google services is refuses to work without a fully fledged Google services implementation

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “F-Droid Board of Directors nominations 2026”

33. Signal ships safety numbers because the platform might one day be compelled or compromised, and the architecture is meant to let you catch that. But almost nobody verifies

    Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Are we self-sovereign PKI yet?”

34. anyone who both does and cares about it from the outset would have no trouble setting up automatic backups with Signal, and then appreciate the privacy advantage

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “BirdyChat becomes first European chat app that is interoperable with WhatsApp”

35. Signal with an online persona revealing no identifying information, registered to a cash purchased eSIM on an ungoogled android is as good as your getting.

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Discord Alternatives, Ranked”

36. I believe Signal's mobile app and (with a better underlying protocol) Telegram's cross-platform UX offer the best mix of secure and safe by default.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Writing a blatant Telegram clone using Qt, QML and Rust. And C++”

37. The tiny company behind Signal, and a bunch of even smaller companies making messengers, manage to make their app work just fine on iOS and android

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Apple, fix my keyboard before the timer ends or I'm leaving iPhone”

38. i'm fine with signal's goals and efforts but i'm not a fan of signal advocates treating security and privacy like another round of the OS wars

    Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Signal knows who you're talking to (2023)”

39. Seems like you should use an app like Signal for anything sensitive at all so you don't have to worry about megacorp ecosystems as much.

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Apple fixes bug that cops used to extract deleted chat messages from iPhones”

40. Messaging apps like Signal are more than enough now a days to stay connected with the few people I need and want to stay in touch with.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Meta blocks human rights accounts from reaching audiences in Arabia and the UAE”