On: Signal and Giphy

[piotrjurkiewicz]

Are you kidding me? Do you consider this Chrome extension as a 'real app' (sic!)?

I won't install Chrome just to host Signal extension.

[mahyarm → piotrjurkiewicz]

Almost every modern desktop chat app is a web app, which is what a chrome app is. It's how something like franz is possible: http://meetfranz.com/

[piotrjurkiewicz → mahyarm]

I all cases of 'modern desktop chat app' you are talking about, I can use it by opening its website with any modern browser.

Signal is the only one which requires me to install one particular browser.

[berdario → piotrjurkiewicz]

If you open them in a browser when you're offline, you won't be able to load/read your messages (yes, I know about HTML5 manifests for offline data... but that's a mess), but with Signal you can.

Moreover, being able to vet/verify the updates (which you can apparently even block altogether) before running the app is of paramount importance for a secure app like Signal.

With a run-of-the-mill webapp that's also impossible.

Again: tradeoffs. I'd prefer if Signal desktop was built on something different, but I still happily use it as is everyday.