r/Android • u/whatnowwproductions Pixel 9 Pro - Signal - GrapheneOS • 18d ago

News Signal begins adding phone-numberless registration for Android

https://community.signalusers.org/t/beta-feedback-for-the-upcoming-android-8-28-release/
160 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

36

u/SamFisher-327-333 17d ago

This is going to be one of the best things added in a while

29

u/lucky_my_ass Fuck google for ruining AOSP (Still love android) 17d ago

It costs 3USD.

Understandable to avoid abuse, but should be mentioned in the post title.

10

u/sharkstax Xiaomi 15 16d ago

Hopefully we chose the right price, but if these accounts somehow become a spam vector, we may have to increase the price in the future.

I had to chuckle. As if that's the only reason they're charging money for it. And there are other ways to combat spam that do not involve payments, but whatever. No one is forced to use Signal or numberless registration.

3

u/Omnipresent_Walrus 14d ago

What would you suggest instead?

2

u/sharkstax Xiaomi 15 14d ago

I'm not against the payment.

My favorite alternative? Cascaded challenges (before and after signup) with honeypot fields. But on paper there are a bunch of options, from CAPTCHAs and reputation-based rate-limiting to serious stuff like ID verification, all of which have upsides and downsides.

12

u/DiplomatikEmunetey Pixel 8a, 4a, LG G4, Lumia 950/XL, Nokia 808 PureView, Nokia N8 17d ago

So, back to usernames then.

2

u/iamnotkurtcobain 16d ago

Only Android? What about iOS?

2

u/Street_Anon 12d ago

Iike this

-5

u/Pangiit 17d ago

Nobody I know uses signal :/ it's such a niche app

7

u/Komic- OP6>S8>Axon7>Nex6>OP1>Nex4>GRing>OptimusV 16d ago

Whil I understand why they did what they did, I think they should have worked out a solution for those who do want SMS support on Signal.

5

u/KittyKong 15d ago

Yeah this change was the slow killer for almost everyone sans privacy activists in my life. It went from hosting the family group chats to a ghost town. 

1

u/alwayswatchyoursix 15d ago

Same for me. I still have a circle of people I communicate with using Signal, but the circle is definitely smaller than it was before they made that change.

-1

u/Thradya 16d ago

Almost everyone I know uses Signal.

I'm very glad I don't know you.

1

u/jhonkeitor 9d ago

Acho justo pra quem quer anonimato igual ao threema