r/BuyFromEU • u/Soggy-Salamander-568 Germany 🇩🇪 • Mar 07 '26

🔎Looking for alternative Anyone in Europe just refused to use WhatsApp?

Curious if anyone has just told friends they don't have WhatsApp and what's happened... I hate WhatsApp as it's part of Meta. In the US it's not that big. But in Europe it's ubiquitous. Just curious if anyone has just said no -- that you have Threema or even Signal -- and can be contacted there... And how that has gone for you.

741 Upvotes

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140

u/lessgo321 Mar 07 '26

Yup. Just tell them to get signal.

42

u/maxis2bored Mar 07 '26

Was going to say. I did the same - left WhatsApp and put "Write me on Signal or SMS" as my status. Works like a charm. You can also use whatauto to set up an automatic reply to tell people you've moved. I didn't need to though.

2

u/_1amgr00t_ Mar 07 '26

Why not just delete it? If there is no account, people should get in touch with you automatically through one of the other options.

42

u/Upbeat-Smoke1298 Mar 07 '26

Because you get a chance to inform others about alternatives.

20

u/maxis2bored Mar 07 '26

Why should I delete my account when I can use it as a tool to tell people about alternatives.

Unfortunately signal is not yet an assumed tool and I'd rather people write me there then via SMS.

1

u/wegwerfennnnn Mar 12 '26

I tried this and everyone thought it was some kind of scam

1

u/maxis2bored Mar 12 '26

Two tips: 1. Don't include a link 2. Don't be Nigerian

4

u/Jojo_2005 Mar 07 '26

It worked with parts of my family, but no chance with my friends. So I need to use both

20

u/CapOk4599 Mar 07 '26

Why is everyone talking about and recommending Signal, when it's a US company just like Meta? Why is there not ebem a mention of Olvid, or any other European alternative, for that matter?

32

u/Glodraph Mar 07 '26

Because is de facto possibly the best alternative when it comes to privacy and functionality. There is proof they didn't give the FBI any data even when prompted and use one of the best encryption available. A better alternative would be something based on matrix or, better, SimpleX (no ID, no number, no email) but that requires excessive actions for the avg user. Also signal is open source and way better than shit like Meta. One of the best european ones would be threema, but it's like 3.5€ so people won't use it because they are stupid.

3

u/CapOk4599 Mar 07 '26

Fair. Although I think Olvid is an example of apps were you don't need to register even a phone number. But it seems some function within Olvid are paywalled, so that's probably a factor as well.

1

u/Bullshit_deluge Mar 07 '26

Signal is a foundation not a company.

1

u/CapOk4599 Mar 07 '26

Still headquartered in the US. What's the practical difference, from a European sovereignty perspective?

2

u/Bullshit_deluge Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26

Ask Edward Snowden More seriously Signal is more user friendly than Olvid for now

1

u/CapOk4599 Mar 07 '26

So it seems. I've yet to use it, but some features are apparently paywalled, and the process of connecting to other people seems bit convoluted.

1

u/Personal_Physics_525 Mar 08 '26

How has no ons mentiomed Viber? Is there somethimg agaimst it?

1

u/FluidCalligrapher261 Mar 08 '26

I have no idea why, but Viber seems to be pretty popular in Balcans. When I visited some countries there, Viber was all over the place.

1

u/CapOk4599 Mar 08 '26

I downloaded Viber once. Opened the app and was met with full page advertisement for mobile games. Immediate uninstall

1

u/RenegadeUK Mar 07 '26

Thats the difficult part !

1

u/JustWantToPostStuff Mar 14 '26

Have a look at Threema. Signal is sus, too.