• Armand1@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    The exit plan from WhatsApp is quite simple. Start by installing Signal and setting it up – it takes only a couple of minutes. Then, resume any WhatsApp conversations on Signal if that person is already a Signal user. If they are not, then switch to regular text messaging and gently suggest to that person to switch over to Signal.

    Sadly for me, this doesn’t really work for some relatives as

    • They live abroad and the cost of sending text messages abroad is not insignificant
    • Some are so tech un-savvy that even installing a new app by themselves is too much.

    All I can do for those relatives is to leave WhatsApp installed but take away basically every permission I can, including running in the background.

    • NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip
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      4 days ago

      They live abroad and the cost of sending text messages abroad is not insignificant

      Signal is free just like whats app. For text, calls, and video. So that isn’t a problem.

      I too have friends and family in different countries, one of which is crazy about whatsapp. I simply tell them this is how we are going to do things now, and walk them through it. It is not hard. If they can’t do it, well then we don’t need to communicate this way. Whatsapp is not an option. It is that simple.

    • InfiniteHench@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      How did they get WhatsApp installed? Is a FaceTime or other video option available? Never give up, never surrender

      • Armand1@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        I was with them helping them out. For reasons I won’t discuss here I won’t be able to visit them anymore, so that avenue is gone 😞.