2023-03-17

Alternative Signal Clients

I use signal because it is a simple private messenger that looks to be secure. I started using it long before a lot of the drama with whatsapp. It is very friendly so getting other people to move to this isn’t too difficult.

However, some people may not like the default client but there are some options. With all of these, accounts with phone numbers are still required and the service is still currently not federated so you have to use signal servers.

There are so many signal clients out there so I’m just naming a few. Here is a page with a few.

• Molly 100% free client for android
• Signal APK does not uses Google services for wake-up events.
• signal-cli CLI but only send and receive messages.
• Axolotl Available on many platforms including ubuntu touch and works okay on a librem 5 with pureOS.

Other mentions

• Silence Fork of signal using SMS and MMS encrypted.
• signal-back Isn’t a signal client but a useful tool if you want to read data in a signal backup instead of having to restore to an app to see.