Reminder that Signal server source code is not fully released and the app is heavily dependent on google services to operate. Signal also takes measures against third party or unofficial apps.
Whatever you say about privacy Signal is not an ally of user freedom.
I'd argue that $5/month is quite high. Not because Signal isn't useful, but because the actual incurred cost per user is much, much lower. Of course, not everyone is going to pay.
But if Signal were to ask users to pay, say $10 per <i>year</i>, i'm sure there'd be a lot more payers.
They should sell the ability of creating an account not attached to a phone number.<p>Pay $5, get a code that allows creating a single account, enter the code somewhere in the app to allow using a user name in place of the phone. This limits spam and, as this code can also be sent to another person, there is a way to hide the relationship between payer and final user. No need for cryptocoins, NFTs, or other stupid things.
WhatsApp used to cost 99 cents per year <a href="https://www.siliconvalley.com/2016/01/18/whatsapp-drops-99-cent-subscription-fee/" rel="nofollow">https://www.siliconvalley.com/2016/01/18/whatsapp-drops-99-c...</a> I can't remember ever paying.
I bought a one time boost badge on Jan 12th and got a notification 3 hours later that it had expired.<p>Still to this day no response from Signal support. Every message I send is either ignored or their bot auto-closes the ticket claiming my Signal version is out of date (happened both when sending an email from the BETA version of the app and from their own website without specifying any version at all)
I am fundamentally not interested in managing monthly bills for things. You won’t win me by asking for recurring donations. Just ask me for ten bucks for some one-time symbolic upgrade.<p>Also I’ve recently been back on the App Store for the first time in a long while. WHAT IS GOING ON?! The gall for simple, offline only apps like a little piano keyboard to want monthly fees for continued use. There isn’t even an illusion of continued feature adds or some recurring service.
I want nice things, so I’m going to donate.<p>All those times when I’ve thought I would pay for service X if it meant not dealing with shitty dark pattern Y. Signal has kept their side of the deal, so now’s the time to pony up the dough.<p>This and stack exchange would top the list of things I’m willing to pay for.
My biggest worry is donationg == ties you to the messaging platform, granted that your telecom/isp and most likely operating system on phone knows you have it installed via the play/app stores is more indicative of something sinister.<p>then they link this paper - <a href="https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/1416.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/1416.pdf</a> which, on one level is great - they're open about the account credential scheme they wish to do.<p>On the other level, it's a level of complexity.<p>Yes, "nothing to fear, nothing to hide" and it's on your phone daily - and eh.<p><a href="https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360057625692-In-app-Payments" rel="nofollow">https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360057625692-In...</a><p>Then with this in app payment - the only supported crypto is mobilecoin. <a href="https://www.mobilecoin.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.mobilecoin.com/</a><p>Granted, I don't know much about it, and I do understand the on-ramp for bitcoin/monero/eth/ltc is not as easy and probably as much tracable.<p>So, after all this banter, it just comes down to being anonymous is a bit hard indeed. :)<p>Not against paying, not against supporting signal, it's just it is a tricky problem all around.
I also started donating €10/month. I figured that I pay a lot more for other services that I use far less often and provide me far less value, so why not pay for this. Also got me to think about this topic a bit more and write this blog post: <a href="https://canolcer.com/post/pay-for-internet-stuff/" rel="nofollow">https://canolcer.com/post/pay-for-internet-stuff/</a>
I had previously donated 2$ monthly for around 1.5 years through PayPal (through their webpage) and just recently noticed the badge system.<p>Seeing that the minimum was 5$ left me with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I know, no one is forced to pay and 5$ for the service is not at all much.<p>But what can I say. It left a bad taste in my mouth.
Important to remember that Brian Acton recently took over from Moxie as CEO of Signal, and he was pushing for a user-funded financial model back at WhatsApp. Signal has had a donation system for a while, but it wasnt exactly explicit and I imagine had a very low conversion rate.<p>I think it's fair enough that Acton would want some return to his $100 million(?) Loan to Signal. But I think more than that this is about creating a business model where users sustain Signal's development and maintenance, rather than Signal sustaining itself through ad tech, just as WhatsApp should have done.<p>In other words, Acton is creating the app WhatsApp should have been. And that's to be applauded
Is there a market for a secure messaging app (similar to Signal) that does not rely on personally identifying information (phone numbers and emails) or is that too fringe?
I'm happy to give my 5$/month, as I'm using Signal daily. When moving away from WhatsApp it seemed like the best option for me and my circle of friends. I can only hope that some of the money would be used to hire a developer to fix some of the issues I'm experiencing, some of which are quite annoying:<p>- Signal killing the whole iPad and iPhone battery in a matter of hours while running in the background, on some days<p>- terribly slow synchronization between phone and Desktop, catching up on a few hundred messages takes minutes<p>- awful UX in video calls: microphone button and camera button work in opposite ways (graying out turns one on, the other off)<p>- awful UX in video calls: if you have multiple people, the camera views are cut into comically wrong letterboxes, often you wont see the person at all anymore<p>- no giphy on the Desktop client (really, why?)<p>What would be the best place to voice that these issues are important to me, GitHub issues?
I know I got to start learning to pay if I don't want to end up with another FB or GOOG in the future.<p>$5/month for a communication app, that is in essence a daily driver, is reasonable for most European/North America users.<p>Having said that, no-one in my circle uses Signal :/
I was waiting a long time for the possibility of easily paying for signal. This reminded me that I should also start to pay for my FOSS password manager. Both are easily worth a few bucks a month and I couldn't live without them.
I always surprises me how few people are willing to pay $5 a month for a piece of software they use everyday, but will gladly spend $3 a <i>day</i> on a Starbucks Coffee or happily drop $8 on a single beer at bar.
Happily giving $10/mo. for this important Internet resource. That goes for Wikipedia too. If we want nice things those of us that can afford it should contribute. imho.
If a non-profit organization like Signal (whose goal is to protect free expression and privacy) were to offer a service with <i>integrated messaging, contacts, and calendars that synchronize reliably over devices</i> , I know of multiple teams that would <i>love</i> to leave their existing provider of those services -- and they are willing to pay a nice annual fee per user.
There is real value to signal. I am debating contributing myself now that it appears to be a more commonly used application. As long as its not mandatory, I think it should be fine. I am saying that specifically because it was hard enough to 'lure' my family and friends there. They may not see the same value I do.
arn't they good on funding now that they integrated their monero copy into signal ? <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/mobilecoin/" rel="nofollow">https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/mobilecoin/</a> ...
I'm willing to donate, but I don't have a Google account linked to my device, so Google pay is out of the question.<p>Maybe Mobilecoin will be an alternative in the future that doesn't depend on Google services.
> Do Apple or Google get a cut of my contribution? - No.<p>Can someone please explain how come Google/Apple won't be taking a cut in this situation? Is it because they have a special deal with Signal?
Thanks for the friendly reminder to donate. Signal needs to stick around. I am also open to seeing some ads on the platform if that's what it takes to keep it alive and well.
I don’t mind a subscription model provided it’s a very useful application with few competitors in terms of features. $5 each month is nothing in the grander scheme of things.
The first line says<p>> Signal is a nonprofit with no advertisers or investors, sustained only by the people who use and value it.<p>Wasn't the case that Brian Acton had invested $50 million in Signal?
Nothing screams privacy more than demanding your phone number, attaching it to a recurring conventional payment rail and demanding your entire address book.<p>/s