Talk:TextSecure

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Change to application

It might be nice for the article to point out that as of the newest android version, normal SMS messages are NOT encrypted via the app any more. The developers have pushed all encrypted communications to IP. The project has forked with https://smssecure.org/ doing encrypted SMS messages 208.49.196.73 (talk) 15:32, 27 May 2015 (UTC)Matt[reply]

This is already mentioned in the lead section, the infobox, and more thoroughly in the history section. --Dodi 8238 (talk) 15:47, 27 May 2015 (UTC) [edited 15:49, 27 May 2015 (UTC)][reply]

Mention of working WebSocket fork

The German Wikipedia already mentions it in their "Criticism" section: There is a fork (https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure/) that uses WebSocket (completely independent of Google Play services) which can connect to the TextSecure production server and is thus on par with the official TextSecure version (notwithstanding the flaws that come along with WebSockets like higher battery usage and, allegedly, less reliable connectivity). Moxie, however, has not endorsed the fork (being wary of letting experimental clients connect to the production server) and as of this moment the attempt to have the code accepted into the main version has halted (https://github.com/JavaJens/TextSecure/issues/21). More information about the status of the fork can be found here: https://github.com/JavaJens/TextSecure/issues/15 --134.147.116.216 (talk) 03:01, 19 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Github discussions are generally not acceptable as sources because they are self-published. Articles should be based on reliable, third-party, published sources with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy. --Dodi 8238 (talk) 08:37, 19 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

User base?

Are there no information about how many people use this messenger? --Manorainjan (talk) 16:32, 22 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Installs via Google Play: According to Archive.org, the number of TextSecure installs via Google Play passed 500 000 sometime between 30 September 2014 and 7 October 2014. The number of TextSecure installs via Google Play was still under 1 000 000 on 5 September 2015. One should note, however, that the actual user base is larger because TextSecure is compatible with Signal (distributed via App Store) and WhisperPush (a built-in feature of CyanogenMod), which are not counted in the aforementioned statistics. Users can also build TextSecure from the sources (available via GitHub), in which case they wouldn't be counted in the Google Play statistics, either.

Number of registrations: AFAIK, neither Open Whisper Systems or Cyanogen Inc. have published how many TextSecure/Signal or WhisperPush users are registered to their servers. These numbers would include the users who have built the apps from the sources, because they would have to register with a server to be able to use the data channel. The total number of registrations would, however, be an overestimate of the actual user base because users are not unregistered from the servers automatically if they uninstall the apps.

I think it would be OK to add this to the article:

As of October 2014, TextSecure has been installed over 500 000 times through Google Play.[1]

What do you think? --Dodi 8238 (talk) 18:36, 16 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

GCM

Article says

Until March 2015, TextSecure used GCM as the transport for message delivery over the data channel. In March 2015, Open Whisper Systems moved to a model of handling message delivery themselves and relied on GCM only for a wakeup event.[7]

Reading reference [7], I cannot find a claim that TextSecure ceased to make use of GCM for message delivery - in fact it says

TextSecure currently uses Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) as the transport for message delivery over the data channel.

so I added citation needed template. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.227.149.182 (talk) 21:12, 10 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

You actually replaced the source with a citation needed template, which isn't helpful. Next time, add a {{failed verification}} template after the source if you can't verify a claim. I restored the source for now. If you read a bit further, it says "...in conjunction with removing support for encrypted SMS/MMS, we’ll simultaneously move to a model of handling message delivery ourselves – relying on GCM only for a wakeup event." --Dodi 8238 (talk) 21:37, 10 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]