Recs.
Updated
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Truly open and secure, comes from the Open Whisper Systems Team
Backed by people nut about privacy, including
- Edward Snowden, Whistleblower and privacy advocate
- Laura Poitras, Oscar winning filmmaker and journalist
- Bruce Schneier, internationally renowned security technologist
- Matt Green, Cryptographer, Johns Hopkins University
Cons
Con If SMS/MMS imported, other apps can't read SMS
For those using Join, Pushbullet, or similar apps to send and receive SMS/MMS from web or desktop, putting your SMS in Signal somehow breaks this functionally. The dev is aware but plans to remedy the situation have not been named a priority.
Con Centralized architecture
Signal's server architecture has been partially decentralized since December 2013, when it was announced that the messaging protocol that is used in Signal had successfully been integrated into the Android-based open-source operating system CyanogenMod. As of CyanogenMod 11.0, the client logic is contained in a system app called WhisperPush. According to Open Whisper Systems, "the Cyanogen team runs their own Signal messaging server for WhisperPush clients, which federates with Open Whisper Systems' Signal server, so that both clients can exchange messages with each-other seamlessly".
The WhisperPush source code is available under the GPLv3 license. In January 2016, however, the CyanogenMod team announced that they will be discontinuing WhisperPush on February 1, and recommended that its users switch to Signal. After this, Signal's server architecture will be entirely centralized.
Recommendations
Comments
Flagged Pros + Cons
Out of Date Pros + Cons
Con Single device
Signal can only be registered to one mobile device at a time. But you can link Signal to Signal Desktop.