“Unfortunately, those apps are more secure than texting in the clear, which is more or less the alternative. Granted, if a hostile party has access to the handset, that encryption isn’t particularly helpful.”
if a hostile party has access to the handset, that encryption isn’t particularly helpful
Things like Molly-FOSS might help better with that, keeping its database locked and encrypted at rest on its own separately from any OS encryption or security. Perhaps GrapheneOS or similar could be beneficial as well.
If you want something with not so many government ties, and maybe more decentralized, there is also SimpleX, Briar and Tox.
The problem with Molly encryption is that you can’t receive notifications when it is locked. That isn’t a easy problem to solve but it is something to keep in mind.
Things like Molly-FOSS might help better with that, keeping its database locked and encrypted at rest on its own separately from any OS encryption or security. Perhaps GrapheneOS or similar could be beneficial as well.
If you want something with not so many government ties, and maybe more decentralized, there is also SimpleX, Briar and Tox.
The problem with Molly encryption is that you can’t receive notifications when it is locked. That isn’t a easy problem to solve but it is something to keep in mind.