this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2024

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Privacy

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Telegram without ads? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 4 months ago by metacolon@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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So, Telegram has launched horrible ads that look a lot like spam to me. At least in my channels it's typically some crypto bullshit. So, I wonder if people know about alternatives to the subscription service for blocking them? Sadly, Forkgram won't offer that option and it doesn't seem to be allowed. However, I wonder if there are still forks out there which block the ads? Or do people know of alternative options?

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[–] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 53 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It won't take long for clients to pop up. But ultimately people shouldn't rely on telegram or any billionaire backed software for pretty much anything.

[–] furzegulo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 4 months ago (4 children)

100% agreed, but it's so hard to get everyone to move to signal or simplex or something.

[–] Steve@communick.news 11 points 4 months ago

It'll be easer when you point out they don't have adds.

[–] D_Air1@lemmy.ml 4 points 4 months ago

My only problem with Signal is the inability to manually sync conversations. Even if I have backups from my phone. They can't be used on the desktop. I have seen some third party tools, but even those state that they might not work.

[–] metacolon@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I use telegram mainly for info channels and tickers. To my knowledge that's not possible in Signal, because you can't restrict participants to be read-only (right?)

[–] john_lemmy@slrpnk.net 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I saw people using signal for announcements only by restricting posting messages to group chat admins. Is that similar to what you're looking for?

[–] metacolon@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 months ago

Ah nice, I didn't know that was possible

[–] moreeni@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

You can do that, but Simplex has a limit on the amount of users in a group due to encryption. There is no point in using an e2ee messenger for public announcements

[–] metacolon@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 months ago

True! But then Simplex / Signal are no real alternatives to Telegram, are they?

[–] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 2 points 4 months ago (3 children)

The problem with Signal is that the UX isn't up to par aesthetically and the problem with SimpleX is that the UX is overly complicated. People want a great chat app first and foremost, privacy is an afterthought.

[–] kia@lemmy.ca 10 points 4 months ago (2 children)

What about Signal's UI isn't up to par aesthetically?

[–] GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Same question. I checked out Signal not a long time ago and it was really good looking. The only thing regular users may not like is the encryption key verification thing but it's not really a UI issue.

[–] sqgl@beehaw.org 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Definitely a UI issue because it is not clear what the user is supposed to do according to the UI.

Should I be sitting physically next to the person to confirm? Read out the gazillion character code to them over a regular phone call?

[–] crispy_kilt@feddit.de 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Either

[–] sqgl@beehaw.org 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

If they are the only two options then it isn't practical. Wouldn't six characters be enough? One in 56,800,235,584 chance of guessing and brute force attacks could be avoided with a limit of 3 tries per hour.

EDIT: Or I could just content myself with the first 6 characters matching. I suppose there is my solution.

[–] crispy_kilt@feddit.de 1 points 4 months ago

You can also use your camera to scan the qr when seeing the person in person.

[–] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

[–] kia@lemmy.ca 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Set the navigation bar size to compact and this looks much better.

[–] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 1 points 4 months ago

Stories are primary content. In Telegram, Snapchat and all modern messengers, they've at the top of the message list. Even in Instagram that's the case, in Signal, they're pointlessly hidden because some old men who advocate for phones without front facing cameras spoke loud enough.

[–] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 6 points 4 months ago

Going from WhatsApp to Signal there's literally no problem with Signal UI.

[–] shekau@lemmy.today 5 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Many people use TG specifically because it has unlimited cloud storage. Signal doesn't offer this (don't know about SimpleX).

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 3 points 4 months ago

Simplex neither, the servers are only for transfer and the necessary short term storage.

[–] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 2 points 4 months ago

For the average person, the ability to run it on seamlessly on multiple devices is more important than storage.