Privacy

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Best WhatsApp alternative for my mother who dislikes its design? (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 days ago by Teknevra@lemmy.world to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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My mother currently uses WhatsApp but really doesn’t like the way it looks and feels.

She’s not very tech-savvy, so I want to find a messaging app that is:

Easy to use for someone older

Similar core functionality (text, voice, video)

Privacy-friendly if possible

She originally got into WhatsApp because while using regular texting, random messages wouldn't go through, due to the whole ios/android wars.

I’ve looked at Signal, Threema, Session, and a few others, but I’m not sure which would be the smoothest transition from WhatsApp for her.

What would you recommend for older users who are coming from WhatsApp but want something simpler or more pleasant to use?

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[–] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 16 points 5 days ago

What confuses me about this scenario you're painting is this: it doesn't matter which app is better than WhatsApp for your mother to navigate if none of the contacts she texts with are willing to move with her. She's not breaking off contact with folks over a GUI issue, is she? Or is she only using it with you?

Also, random messages not going through has not been an issue in the "war" between Android and iOS so far as I can see. Image quality of attached images, getting spammed with a new text for every reaction of a user in iMessage on the Android side, and some rare messages in group chat contexts that originated in iMessage were issues (and they're not anymore IIRC). Now, if those are the ones you mean with "random messages" then okay. Did you or she convince all her contacts to move to WhatsApp as a result? If so, once again, moving her off it won't do any good unless everybody follows along with her.

A move off of WhatsApp and to Signal is recommended from a privacy point of view. Meta is a terrible company. Signal is less bloated than WhatsApp. Beyond that I think they're all roughly similar in functionality and user interface. By which I mean equally confusing for somebody over 60 today.