I’m a longtime Lightphone owner - but not a longtime user. Why? In most places outside of North America, WhatsApp and Signal are the only methods of communication people use. Brazil (where I’m currently located) basically runs on WhatsApp.
I love the idea of minimalist phones, and have ordered several. But none of them seem to take messaging seriously.
I would suggest integrating Beeper as a way for Mudita to make the next generation of phones viable in Europe and South America, where SMS is almost never used. Without it, minimalist phones become an additional piece of tech to manage rather than a better replacement for what came before.
We have to wait to see which apps are supported on the Kompakt. RCS has been available on Android for a long time now and will be supported on the iPhone from iOS 18.
Yes, we really, really need this. I cannot go to a minimalist phone until I have an encrypted messenger. Beeper is great at this, but we also need the ability to install some apk’s like Whatsapp and Signal for secure voice calls.
Africa is on WhatsApp, EastEurope on Viber. Just because of easy file transfers and free messaging, both apps have adds. Superior Signal and Telegram for files are less known.
I see Beeper is not Sinclair Spectrum sound device but an integrated centralized app for all above.
Pure didnt make a strech goal for Offline Maps and Signal texting (TOO BAD! Phone would be 3x more usable) and Kompakt will not come with any. We ll see will Kompakt allow sideloading or play store.
This is the exact problem I have with the Kompakt. I really want to buy one and use it as my only phone. But without a confirmation that I can somehow install whatsapp on it, the phone becomes nothing more than an mp3 player. In Spain SMSs cost A LOT of money so nobody uses them and switching to a phone that doesn’t have at least whatsapp directly means you become completely isolated from society
Just wanted to add that for the upcoming LP3, they’re looking into some type of RCS messaging. Although the phone hasn’t been released yet, Joe, the co-founder, has already confirmed exploration into what the best method is to use these types of text messaging apps. Additionally, he said that in the far future (bascailly after LP3 is released and they’re working on more tools), they wanted to explore the possibility of upgrading the LP2 by keeping it the same in nature but more usable. This post isn’t necessarily defending the LPs, but more so, I wouldn’t automatically disregard these phones for the future since they are planning on Implenting something already that could help those outside U.S. to communicate better. Meaning, they’ve been well aware of the request and how it’s needed, just still looking into options to make it happen. Thus, we return to Kompakt vs Light Phone as the competition between the phones is still a close one, at least for me. They both have things I’d want, so I’m looking forward to the Kickstarter release to help clear which phone is best for me.
“Back to the future”. That’s how I think of it. I have to go back to basic and get rid of applications that is harmful for my privacy. And go from there. It’s a transition that will cost at first. I see no other way. Of course I could be wrong. That’s happened many time in my life. If so, I choose another path again. But for now no meta or other big tech will never get my support.
So, now that we know when and what went wrong. Let’s go back and start again.
For me, thats what Mudita and Light is trying to do. And I have decided to support them in any way I can. For now that means to buy there products and trust that they make decisions far above my knowledge.
Right, no official information has been out yet because it hasn’t been released. So there is no confirmation yet. However, Joe has been active on Reddit and has answered people which at least gives confirmation to what to expect in the future. I’m not promising it will come, I’m just saying that it can’t be completely ruled out. Even though RCS may not come at launch, they are exploring bringing it to the phones in some way, shape or form.
New update from Heiwei shows they are making progress about bringing Beeper (specifically WhatsApp confirmation) & Lyft to the Light Phone. The tools may not be out when the phone is out, but it looks like they are diligently working on those two apps to bring their customers. Exciting news!
Thats very nice for Lp3 users, but has nothing to do with us, unl;ess Beep Beep (Spectrum/QL Beeper) becomes a official supported app for Kompakt.
Beeper in hardware is Spectrum or early IBM PC Speaker sound
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