this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
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Privacy
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Not if you have friends.
Well I just converted my friends.
If they love you they will download an app for you. And it's important to keep in mind that most modern mobile OSes will stop showing notifications from an app or even hide the app if the users doesn't open it after X amount of time.
So it's up to you to keep the conversation alive enough they get used to using it. If my 83 year old father can, so can your friends.
Just get your friends on signal or something similar. Friends don't let friends use WhatsApp.
Or if you want to check your messages on more than one device. I don't like telegram much but I use it because I can access my messages from both my phone and tablet, signal is locked to my phone and my pc.
Try living in a society that has WhatsApp as default. I cannot do my job without it.
I don't forget what it's like to be 15, because I had a great childhood, but I also grew up and started doing crazy things like moving out, renting a home, etc, and if your landlord requires you to download WhatsApp, or any other app to communicate, you do it. Otherwise you'll find yourself on the street, messaging yourself on Signal lmao.
My landlord told me to download WhatsApp and I just said "nah I use email". Super easy cleared up in 5 seconds.
That's awesome. Sounds like you already had a lease signed. Now try that again when you're one of the 60 others applying to the house.
They'll rip up your lease on the spot for being difficult.
Nah I didn't. Have had it for jobs and stuff too. People are usually willing to do email if you ask.
If someone is unwilling to do business with you via email and require you to use WhatsApp then you dodged a bullet.
Your landlord tells you what apps to download on your phone and you do it? What parallel reality do you live in?
The one where I need a place to rent, and the real estate agent communicates between my landlord and myself via WhatsApp group chat?
Your landlord tells you no smoking in the house and you do it? What parallel reality do you live in?
When I did smoke cigarettes, I would go outside not to have a smelly appartment. I did keep smoking joins inside with prejudice though, it's not like they'd visit to check up on me.
That's dystopian... The agency has my e-mail to send me bills and occasionally some important residential information, they have my phone number for absolute emergencies, other than that I don't want to hear from them or... chat with them? I'm still processing why do you need to be in a group chat or how can landlord force you to install an app on your phone. What if you don't have a smartphone? It's not like it's obligatory to have one.
Renting an apartment is a mutual agreement for which you pay your rent, it's not like they are doing you a favour or anything, and you behave like you're their slave or something.
Wtf you mean send you bills?
My landlord doesn't send me bills. Upon moving in, you're required to call the water/hydro/gas company and put the utilities in your name. No bills get sent to the landlord. They're not my mom.
My landlord went through a realtor. She paid the realtor good money to find tenants and deal with the tenants. The group chat is a way for us, the landlord, and the realtor she hired to stay in the loop together.
You mention phone calls, what year is it? My landlord doesn't call me. That leaves no paper trail, and is annoying. She sends a message via WhatsApp. Not to mention the group chat is for US to also get in touch, if we need something fixed. It's not a one way "slave" machine.
You're very ignorant.
Not that simple, unfortunately :( The problem is that one particular vendor (Meta) controls the client - the app - to the service (Whatsapp). Right now we can only hope that Signal doesn't add this kind of feature. There are already cryptocurrency features in the Signal app of dubious utility.
And that's why European Union introduced the Digital Markets Act. By March 2024, Meta will need to give a way for third party clients to communicate with WhatsApp users in 1-to-1 chats. Group chats will probably follow 2 years after.
Yeah, that was a bizarre move, but it doesn't interfere or interoperate with any of its comms functions. Also I have never even read online about anyone using this crypto feature, let alone known any one who did.
I turned everyone around me to Matrix on my own instance. There are other options as well
I don't have friends yet, but as I am forming relationships, I am converting people to XMPP.