Deltachat and Jabber, both decentralized encrypted messaging apps (as opposed to Signal, which is centralized), don’t even require an email to create an account, let alone a phone number or payment.
Delta chat is also less secure than Signal because it runs on standard email servers, which inherently leak more tracking metadata (like sender and recipient addresses) and lack Signal’s advanced privacy features like Perfect Forward Secrecy.
It will have forward secrecy after they finish implementing Autocrypt2.
A person also has to determine their security threat level. If they think a state actor may take a personal interest in them, then they’re probably best using in-person offline communication. If they must communicate online, then IMHO I don’t think Signal is a good choice due to it being centralized (everything goes through their servers, and they are a single entity making them easier to infiltrate or coerce by governments) and requiring you to link a personally identifying number or credit card.
If they just don’t want a corporation datamining them to sell to advertisers, Deltachat is more than good enough.
Deltachat has an extremely smooth on boarding process and is the same app for all platforms, but it cannot do voice calls or screen share (you can leave voice messages though).
Jabber/XMPP generally has a less smooth UX, and different apps across different platforms (except the Movim client, which is a web app that works on all platforms, but doesn’t do reliable notifications on mobile).
With the Movim client, Jabber/XMPP is basically a complete Discord and Signal replacement. It can do group video calls, screensharing with audio (only with chromium based browser for now), as well as voice and text channels under different servers.
Deltachat and Jabber, both decentralized encrypted messaging apps (as opposed to Signal, which is centralized), don’t even require an email to create an account, let alone a phone number or payment.
Delta chat is also less secure than Signal because it runs on standard email servers, which inherently leak more tracking metadata (like sender and recipient addresses) and lack Signal’s advanced privacy features like Perfect Forward Secrecy.
Regarding metadata, you may want to read the FAQ.
It will have forward secrecy after they finish implementing Autocrypt2.
A person also has to determine their security threat level. If they think a state actor may take a personal interest in them, then they’re probably best using in-person offline communication. If they must communicate online, then IMHO I don’t think Signal is a good choice due to it being centralized (everything goes through their servers, and they are a single entity making them easier to infiltrate or coerce by governments) and requiring you to link a personally identifying number or credit card.
If they just don’t want a corporation datamining them to sell to advertisers, Deltachat is more than good enough.
What are the practical differences between them?
Deltachat has an extremely smooth on boarding process and is the same app for all platforms, but it cannot do voice calls or screen share (you can leave voice messages though).
Jabber/XMPP generally has a less smooth UX, and different apps across different platforms (except the Movim client, which is a web app that works on all platforms, but doesn’t do reliable notifications on mobile).
With the Movim client, Jabber/XMPP is basically a complete Discord and Signal replacement. It can do group video calls, screensharing with audio (only with chromium based browser for now), as well as voice and text channels under different servers.