Email, docs, music, maps etc have reasonable alternatives and you don’t depend on others to switch (a gmail user will receive my email from tuta). But with WhatsApp either you conceal and use it or you just don’t talk to people (tried convincing them to switch to signal and it simply doesn’t happen)
How do you deal with it?
Never used it. I have app fatigue. I am forced to download so many apps, make so many accounts, I really dont want to make another one. Sucks to hear how few options some countries have. The people who matter wont care how you want to keep in touch.
People from the United States can’t understand how difficult is for us who live in countries where WhatsApp is used for everything, they can’t understand this trend began even before Meta bought Whatsapp. In Mexico is a nightmare without WhatsApp because is the main source of communication not only for the people but for your job, delivery, assistance and more. So basically what you can do is to have a device for WhatsApp and another for your private life
I have two profiles on my GOS and Wapp lives on one of them. However, i manage people expectations telling them that my Wapp phone is almost always off so they know that if its urgent, they need to call or use Signal. Eventually people will understand and if they dont, i am not prepared to live my life by the needs if others. I lived at a time where there were no mobile phones. Life worked the same, albeit at a slower pace. People, we really dont need to be hyperconnected. Relax and let people understand that yheir mental status will improve once they put some rules between them and their mobile devices.
I don’t have Whatsapp and I will never use it. If people don’t want to use Signal, Telegram, XMPP, Matrix, SimpleX, or Delta Chat, we will talk over RCS/SMS.
Sms is now so developped, sending pictures and videos, calling is one click away, no need to install or update : it is surprisingly useful. Then you have the same issue with Wechat for Chinese communities
Only problem is that ive started noticing telcoms are discouraging their use by limiting number of sms on monthly plan. Wonder why …?
I just don’t talk to people.
I mean, I didn’t watch Game of Thrones, so I’ll never be a citizen of humanity. Seems like a decade and a half went by of conversations that went “So did you see Game of Thrones last night?” “No, I don’t watch that show.” “Oh. Bye.” The sooner you realize everyone is an empty headed content consumer and there has never been anything worth saying to or hearing from any of them, the sooner you’ll wonder why you even own a phone.
While your statement was true regarding phone (and WhatsApp) being a lifestyle choice, it has become a critical requirement for participating in the society.
In India, every little thing now requires WhatsApp. Want to contact your doctor, lawyer or want to get receipt? Good luck if you don’t have a smartphone and WhatsApp.
So not having WhatsApp is not a choice. Believe me. I have been running GrapheneOS, WhatsApp free. It is so hard.
Disagree. My doctor shouldnt be using whatsapp to communicate my health issues. We guve them this freedom. Stand for your rights.
The doctor isn’t the problem here. They’re simply trying to communicate in the most frictionless way possible. So do the billions of people. The real failure is our governments. They allow basic communication protocols to be privatized and monopolized rather than mandating open, federated standards.
The few people who really care about me, agreed to contact me via SMS.
The close family even uses XMPP for me.hard to say, I don’t use WhatsApp, i deleted it when FB bought it, yes, that long ago.
I use it via Beeper On-Device
https://blog.beeper.com/2025/07/16/the-new-beeper/?ref=beeper-faq
I use WhatsApp without any Android rights other than foreground data usage. I still check my messages once a day, but if someone wants to reach me now, they have to use signal. It also makes it at least less bad for privacy.
My close circle of friends and family do use signal for me and I only get relevant messages every few days on WhatsApp, but getting rid of it still isn’t possible in my situation.
I find not having friends helps with this
Not at all.
Never had WhatsApp, never will
Naomi Brockwell TV on YT or Odyssey had a video about that, forgot the name. You basically make it more painful to communicate on other platforms, reward for using your preferred platform (e.g. offer tickets to a game through preferred platform).
Don’t expect people to move completely, including close friends
All my friends went cold turkey when I canceled all Facebook products two years ago. I switched to signal; some were using it already, some followed me, some use both. Screw the rest; they can use SMS, or snail mail, it turns out they were unreflective jerks to begin with. Culling is always refreshing. Admittedly, with signal being USA based, I will probably switch to a EU service soon, so the fun starts all over 🤪
Im hearing more and more about Deltachat. Where is it based?
Thank you, that’s a great take
Thats the neat part, you dont
Unlike all the apps you named it, “users” is what make it still alive to this day
You gonna have to use it with Signal if you want to use Signal that much, or just dont
