Hi everyone,

First of all, I know WhatsApp doesn’t belong to Google so I’m technically in the wrong community.

Still I think getting rid of Facebook is part of the same movement.

I’ve been using Threema (and Signal/SMS a little bit) for years with all my close contacts, but I can’t fully get rid of WhatsApp as I’m part of some groups where I can’t convince/force everyone to move to Threema.

Because I was still on WhatsApp, a lot of people outside of the necessary groups thought it was okay to contact me on WhatsApp.

I had looked into ways of blocking everyone except these essential groups, but I couldn’t find anything on the web.

Now I think I’ve found the solution to prevent people outside of these necessary WhatsApp groups to write to me on WhatsApp. I had never heard of it before yesterday, but you can download a WhatsApp Business app which lets you send automated answers when people are writing to you.

So I basically just created an automated answer telling people that I’m using Threema/Signal/Sms and that I won’t answer on WhatsApp. Now I don’t have to write long messages telling people to please write to me on another app (and then these people keep writing on WhatsApp of course). So now it’s make the effort or leave me alone 😅

I still plan in ditching WhatsApp for good at one point, but it seems like a good temporary solution and, since I hadn’t found anyone suggesting this idea, I thought I would share it here to help people who have the same problem.

  • HandlesEnglish
    28·
    3 months ago

    Good on you, man. The network effect is always the most insidious to beat when you want to make the step away from a big platform, and you found a way to hopefully steer the casual contacts onto other, safer platforms. I’m happy for you.

    • Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.worksOP
      9·
      3 months ago

      Yeah I guess « network effect » really sums it up perfectly.

      It’s difficult to make people understand that it’s your right to try to get away from all these big platforms without ending just being the old grumpy guy.

      • HandlesEnglish
        8·
        3 months ago

        Oh, I totally embraced being that grumpy weirdo who insists that what people see as some sort of benevolent, public utility… isn’t. Friends and family still ask why I have to be so critical of corporate social media; I’ll never understand why they aren’t 🤷

        • Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.worksOP
          2·
          3 months ago

          Oh I’m already that grumpy weirdo who’s buying Threema for everyone, but I feel like there is a limit to what I can do until I start offending people or losing important information which is more important than what I’m losing by giving some of my data to Meta.

        • lud@lemm.ee
          1·
          3 months ago

          Do you suggest it in a nice and reasonable way to people that you think would appreciate your suggestion or are you the stereotypical vegan equivalent of FOSS communities?

  • barcaxavi@lemmy.world
    201·
    3 months ago

    Not the solution you looking for as I feel, but I leave it here for others to discover: With a home server and proper technical knowledge you can use WhatsApp via Matrix: https://matrix.org/ecosystem/bridges/whatsapp/

    This is something I discovered way before, when I was trying to ditch Facebook Messenger. I felt like there’s absolutely no chance to convince everyone around me to use Signal, so even not having the app on the phone looked like an OK option.

    • communism@lemmy.ml
      3·
      3 months ago

      I heard you still need to log into WhatsApp every few days for the bridge to keep working though. How long were you using the bridge for (or if you’re still using it, how long have you been using it for) without having WhatsApp installed at all?

      • barcaxavi@lemmy.world
        31·
        3 months ago

        Not sure if you haven’t read my comment, or just didn’t get the jist of it: the point is that you can use the service without installing their crappy app.

          • yonder@sh.itjust.works
            4·
            3 months ago

            My understanding of Whatsapp’s data collection is that since the messages are encrypted, Meta “only” profiles you using metadata. If you use a matrix bridge to communicate, they would lose out on data like how you interact with their app and when you open it as well as location data but would still get to know when and who you send messages to.

          • barcaxavi@lemmy.world
            31·
            3 months ago

            Just check what privileges these apps ask for when you’re installing them. They could get infinitely more data then “just” the ones tied to the conversations.

            So once again my point is that, if their app is not touching my phone, that’s one bullet dodged.

              • lud@lemm.ee
                2·
                3 months ago

                Not sure why you are being downvoted. Their main problem was the data that was given when you give them permissions. So why the hell is not giving them permissions not a reasonable solution?

    • Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.worksOP
      3·
      3 months ago

      I had a look into this in the past, but it wasn’t for me as I don’t have a home server.

      I think you could also pay some service to host a server for you, but I’m saving my geeky money for other projects.

    • Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.worksOP
      21·
      3 months ago

      Yeah that’s the problem.

      I’m a separated dad and I know that without WhatsApp no teacher would send me pictures of them when they go to a camp.

      With work I’m lucky because my employer is providing Threema for everyone.

  • bloubz@lemmygrad.ml
    6·
    3 months ago

    Thank you for the information

    A similar solution would be using matrix with a WhatsApp bridge and setup an automated response there (I don’t think there’s a bridge with that feature yet, but it could be easy to setup on the server)

    • Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.worksOP
      2·
      3 months ago

      You’re welcome!

      The best solution would be interoperability between Threema/Signal and WhatsApp, but I can obviously understand why they wouldn’t want to do this.

      Still, if it was optional, I guess Threema and Signal should go for it.

  • Goldmaster@lemmy.ml
    2·
    3 months ago

    There is watomatic which does exactly this. You can select messenger/WhatsApp and when one reply or messages you. It auto responds with whatever text you want.

    • Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.worksOP
      2·
      3 months ago

      It’s only on Android so I can’t use it with my only phone, which is my work iPhone, but it’s an interesting project.

      It’s even better than my solution as it doesn’t require to download WhatsApp business.

  • Mangoholic@lemmy.ml
    1·
    3 months ago

    Using Graphene OS, I was able to have more control of Whatsapps permissions including storage scope options. So you can expose just certain contact numbers and file folders to the app. This does not make your conversations save tho, since even encrypted data is saved for the future when the prozessing power to break the encryption will eventually be available.

  • solrize@lemmy.world
    21·
    3 months ago

    I wondered why you wanted to get rid of it slowly instead of quickly, and it sounds like you got rid of it quickly. Good work. No idea why Threema instead of ordinary email, but whatever.

    • Asetru@feddit.orgDeutsch
      3·
      3 months ago

      No idea why Threema instead of ordinary email

      You don’t know the difference between instant messengers and email?

    • lud@lemm.ee
      2·
      3 months ago

      Because email is annoying for chatting. I very much prefer using slack or teams at work compared to email which I only use for more formal stuff. It would feel very weird to use email with friends.