Briar Messenger Review: As Private as It Gets.

A full review & introduction to Briar Messenger: an open source, decentralized P2P messenger utilizing the Tor network.
This review recaps the privacy & security of Briar, getting it setup and using it, as well as the overall usability experience and who this messenger is for.
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#briar #messenger #review

[@20quid]

Sounds like the sort of tool that would be really useful to the Hong Kong protestors or the Belarus protestors, where privacy is vital but also where there is no centralised leadership to coordinate activity.

[@macktheripper7454]

Both block tor so sadly it wouldn’t work

[@20quid]

@@macktheripper7454 But Briar can communicate over Bluetooth and WiFi.

[@TheBlueThird]

It'd be useful in India too. They shut off the internet a lot.

[@BarryDuttonSellsHomes]

30 mins ago I checked for updates from you thinking..."Hmmm, no video in awhile" -- and here you are. I blogged on Briar right around the time they were discussing launch.

[@narahinampas6430]

Last few weeks Briar got supported on Picture sending and profile photo!

[@RaeesUnboxingwala]

An app like briar is actually needed these days to overcome internet censorship

[@appleanarchist3992]

We must build a community

[@pfikurum]

​@@appleanarchist3992 No.

[@soullessleftover8427]

It's a great app, i just want to see support for files.

[@jyotiradityatiwary615]

@Eddie Saint scam

[@narahinampas6430]

Briar have support sending images!

[@bradkaral1188]

Very clearly explained. Good perspective. Would love to see an updated review now that Briar has more features, and a Windows version as well.

[@corkerydan]

Thanks for the even-handed review. Nicely done.

[@redeyesdrogon786]

To use Briar, or not to use Briar. That is the question a dedicated Signal user is wondering. Good video. App seems to be in a somewhat early stage, so maybe over the years it will get better.

[@kacu4713]

I think in the end it is about the use case. Briar has been around for awhile not in early stage, the main objective of it is private and secure communication and one kind of communication only, unlike Signal which is better for day to day usage along with lots of way to communicate.

[@nibblrrr7124]

Briar (like Tox or Ricochet) has its uses, but I don't see mass adoption when even sending asynchronous messages will likely stay impossible. Signal can actually compete against FB Messenger, Whatsapp & Telegram in terms of features & usability, so I'm very gung-ho about recommending it to people. It's a much better match for the vast majority of use cases, but actually doesn't compromise on the core security promises, or enabling selling user data or mass surveillance. Maybe Matrix/Element will come along, but while decentralization/federation feels good, it's still an open question how reliably you can provide good service & keep up with new features - and the security/privacy/freedom benefits vs. Signal might not be as clear-cut. (I also use XMPP, but in many areas it's pretty dire in terms of usability...)

[@sammydepresso]

I love briar it makes my activism very easy to stay safe.

[@gorentrimberger3073]

I like your final thoughts, but that's why your team and I, want to bring privacy awareness to the masses.

[@l932me_uxnutv5]

Thank you for the in depth review. The problem I have using Briar is I can find no one / no group / forum to chat with in the first place.

[@ArneBab]

You need to get your friends to use Briar.

[@edwardfletcher7790]

Briar isn't designed to be a social chat app lol Its specific use case is secure, highly localised mesh chat.

[@gravityfallscanada]

Excellent review!

[@Derbauer]

didnt know about this one, looks interesting!

[@Jaymac0929]

Interesting new to the Channel I have been catching up on a lot of your videos 🤜🤛👍👍👍

[@snowstrobe]

So I started setting up as he spoke... which certainly is simple to do. Would prefer something that can send pics tho.

[@macktheripper7454]

Reminds me of bit torrent bleep, a great idea and thanks for the review 👍

[@loco8247]

Great anon messenger. Does it have TOR build in? It connects to tor without Orbot

[@Gunspud]

This is a great app and now you CAN send pictures.

[@Winbasic]

Vou ficar feliz quando o app ter suporte para envio de vídeos 😋

[@vIBEDoUT-Channel]

I actually like it being simple and unique

[@Dylan-vm3fl]

What happed to weekly surveillance report? I always looked forward to it.

[@MysteriousMatt89]

Maybe you can have a look on the Messenger Session too

[@Burn3r10]

It'll be good for areas where you dont have service either, like secondary communications. granted, you need to be in bluetooth or wifi range.

[@Burn3r10]

For example, hiking or camping with some buddies.

[@horssysteme]

In my opinion, Briar will be perfect when it will use mesh network for emergency communications

[@chrlemes]

Why not use Jami? It's also decentralized, encrypted and cross-platform (Windows, Linux, MacOS, iOS, Android and even AndroidTV). You may sync your account between multiple devices, do video and audio calls, send video and audio files (any file, in fact), share location, etc. I'm not sure if it's possible to have group messasges, but I have just seen on their site that it's possible to do video conferencing. It does not integrate with Tor, but you may run it inside Orbot. Power consumption was a bit of an issue with earlier versions, but current stable is pretty good on that side. I had to tweak the settings a bit for it to work. It's also on F-Droid and google store.

[@user-ek5fw5bt1z]

❤ thanks!😊

[@TheExsi]

First like then watch.

[@nicolasalvarado9440]

It would be cool a video on jami, have you try it?

[@successlifenow]

Senssion is the best

[@whitepaperkat67]

but you still have to put your trust in tor rely nodes and how dose it work offline with tor unless it dose not use tor for direct connections

[@telotawa]

2:04 just fyi, that text is not blurred enough to be undecipherable, those two links could be fully reverse engineered (if I can tell by eye what a few of the characters are, it's possible to figure out the rest by using the same font and checking one character at a time, with difficulty linear to the length of the blurred text) if you want to securely blur text for sharing, you should heavily distort it or just black it out

[@michealanderson9854]

Hey there, I have a question. If I am using a VPN for example nord. And I am using the briar app. Does my ip address start from the nord VPN then threw tor.. Also there is an option for bridging and not bridging. Should I bridge. As it automatically chose not too. And showed what country I was in. While I was using a VPN.. Please explain.

[@ArneBab]

I might have gotten people onto Briar today if it supported images :-/ Thank you for the review!

[@techlore]

Coming soon ™️ supposedly

[@ArneBab]

@@techlore Sadly that answer is too late when the decision what to use had to be taken today. Maybe we can switch one day…

[@VishalRaoOnYouTube]

0:45 Since there's no centralization, can I use the same account on my phone as I do do my desktop? If not, that would be a bummer; this is supported really well with Telegram. I wouldn't mind sync'ing the keys via QR code manually between the two devices, if that meant, I can access the same account via multiple devices.

[@nibblrrr7124]

I don't think that is possible with Briar. Telegram can only sync insecure messages they have lying around on their servers in plain text (which is the default, and mandatory for group chats), not end-to-end-encrypted "secret chats". Signal is more clever here, allowing end-to-end-encrypted syncing of one mobile with multiple desktop devices (and it works fairly well). But it's a hard engineering problem, and I would be very surprised (and happy) if apps like Briar could ever pull it off without centralized or even federated servers.

[@devaprem6124]

Please do a video about Riot.im (element)

[@sophiavoigt5798]

Is it possible to be completely anonymous towards the person you are communicating with?

[@jay1o1o]

how come you didnt have bluetooth on when you disabled wifi 2:20? only route left is internet via cell data.

[@kakhak]

Great ad free tool to message, for example, in a plane.

[@northmanmartin5186]

me and my left neighbour awarkdly using briar messenger with bluetooth only 😂 i hope someone out there already trying this app with bluetooth extender, i just wanna know does it still works.

[@Maikatiii]

Can you make video about rooting or jailbraiking your phone?

[@SachinBalan_PB]

Wow❤️

[@Robert-vk6bs]

so is the link like an OTP or is it the equivalent to a phone number

[@PlaysM762]

Good app

[@jrkettleman1776]

Good video thanks. I have been using the messaging program "Telegram" for about a week. It seems to work well so far. I am still checking it out. It is a cloud-based mobile and desktop messaging app with a focus on security and speed. It works on iPhone/iPad, Android, Windows Phone, PC/Mac/Linux and macOS. And it Free! Techlore if you would, please check this out and see what you think from a security aspect.

[@nibblrrr7124]

Telegram doesn't really have a claim to "focusing on security". Messages aren't even end-to-end-encrypted by default, and group chats (one of their biggest selling points) are never encrypted - unlike in Signal, Briar, or even Whatsapp. They also came under fire by security experts for developing & rolling out their own weird cryptographic protocol, without really subjecting it to peer-review first - that's bad practice. If you want a messenger that works well, with videochat, group chats, voicemails, stickers, file transfer, syncing with desktop... to talk to your IRL friends & family (i.e. people you're okay with giving your phone number), and that doesn't even have the capabilities to sell your data, then I highly recommend Signal.

[@gustavohab]

Telegram is centralized, if a corrupt government orders the company to shut down specific groups/profiles, or just take the service down, they can

[@ashutoshpandey9105]

How it compares with Signal?

[@tuxecure]

Any thoughts on jami?

[@minutofamiliar]

Esta disponível para IOS?

[@tobiasbergmann1363]

Groups? AV? MultiDevice?

[@cyberp0et]

How about Jami? That one is multiplatform. Or Session.

[@Cyberfoxxy]

Do a video on Manyverse and Session

[@porecords6931]

Hmm, when will it come to iphone?

[@John-xe6wi]

Can you do a review on Virgil Messenger (quantumn encryption)?

[@nibblrrr7124]

You mean *post-quantum cryptography* (i.e. cryptographic algorithms that run on classical computers but are resistant to attacks using future quantum computers). That has nothing to do with 'quantum cryptography", using quantum computers or effects (like quantum key distribution). Unless you are texting secrets that will still be relevant to the 30+ years until the NSA gets a quantum computer that can feasibly decrypt it, and they suspect your messages are interesting enough to be worth storing & decrypting after all those years, you're more than fine with using the good old algorithms currently in use. And other apps will switch to the same algorithms in time, probably after we can be more sure that they're even as secure as the ones in common use today. In the case of Virgil, it honestly sounds like pointless snake oil. I'd be _much_ more concerned about the makers putting in backdoors or having bugs that can be exploited, since it's not open source.

[@landonbeaty2885]

buying a google pixel tuesday, will you make a video on installing CalyxOS?

[@kacu4713]

Follow steps he explained in GrapheneOS installation.

[@mr.salamander1399]

is it available on pc?

[@harikumar8443]

love from india♥️♥️

[@Ingentiy]

My use case ... burner app

[@AkashSingh-uk5ub]

Are you Polo from Elite,the Netflix high school drama show ?

[@rebekahfry522]

How do you know if the message sent has been read?

[@PM-cq8vr]

thank you¡,'

[@donaldd.9404]

Do You have an opinion towards the element messenger ? Or am i too dumb to find the video, if you already made one ? :D

[@kodyballard49]

Briar is a great Messenging App if thats all you need it to be, any chance you'd ever be willing to check out Tok Messenger (tok.life) its similar to what BCM Messenger use to be in terms of anonymity & privacy

[@LOGICZOMBIE]

OBRA MAESTRA

[@TheCatbutcher]

Compared to Signal, what are the pros and cons ?

[@partyfavors9238]

I love signal but I got to try this one.

[@user-zc3tv2ug8q]

signal is centralized

[@margaritabiz]

Interface is not that bad at all. It delivers and is fine for me.. Rembmer the KISS formula (keep it simple, st....)

[@autobot3b5]

Check out sessions as a messaging app

[@NoEgg4u]

It is open source. So why has it not been compiled for Apple's IOS? Is Apple preventing this, because it is a form of communication that they cannot spy on? Some other reason? Anyone know?

[@techlore]

code.briarproject.org/briar/briar/-/issues/445 Have fun through this 4 year discussion. In short--iOS restrictions

[@GabrielTobing]

Hello Anon

[@sophiavoigt5798]

Does it need Google service, Google push or something?

[@techlore]

Uses its own background service. No need for Google Play Services.

[@sophiavoigt5798]

@@techlore Awesome! Thank you for your quick answer.

[@sophiavoigt5798]

@@techlore That makes it very interesting to me, to be honest I am not looking for something that is fun but safe and independent. I guess I just like boring, lol.

[@Niccel]

what about things like google keyboard? I'd be mostly using android and google keyboard

[@oldaccount7463]

Just use openboard on fdroid

[@ishzsbxux]

what about Threema? It just became open source I think

[@nibblrrr7124]

Oh, neat. They say they plan going open source in a blog post from three weeks ago. So far, I don't think they've published anything beyond the parts that already were (protocol, web client), and not the mobile apps? And I don't think they intend to publish server code, but that's not as crucial for security. Being a paid app, I feel it makes most sense for e.g. company-internal communications, not mass adoption for private messaging? But if you can get your friends to use it with you, that's cool. So far I don't see any real benefits over Signal, except maybe being under Swiss instead of Five-eyes jurisdiction (though Signal are doing a lot to mitigate this by minimizing the amount they need to know about their own users - not sure if Threema are doing similar things).

[@noname-uf4je]

by the way came out Briar Desktop...

[@tarhooni1]

It's still not available in ios

[@P3ktoRis]

i tried this some time ago, when trying to connect over the links didnt work at all. after a few days it worked but very slowly. for only 1 contact we gave up.

[@EldergodUK]

I have been testing it for almost a week now...it's got better. Once you get used to adding contacts its great. I only have 12 contacts, but the blog feature is great for sending messages quickly to all your friends. But the replying on blogs can get confusing.

[@P3ktoRis]

@@EldergodUK ¸ ive installed it back on, but my friends dont want to have 3 or more apps for messaging. so i have 0 contacts, but im using rss feed :D hoping someone will be using it. but for now signal which is default app.

[@EldergodUK]

@@P3ktoRis I will add you....just to have a idea how it works

[@P3ktoRis]

@@EldergodUK i tried it some time ago with a coworker, but it wasnt usable at least for us...i will persuade him again so we can give it a second test.

[@EldergodUK]

@@P3ktoRis I now have 29 contacts....the situation happening in the world, has got a lot of people to relook at their message security. Session is fine as well of course....but it's the Bluetooth message sending that I am interested in, for when the SHTF

[@minsan6696]

Hi, I'm from Myanmar. I'm downloading this app because the military is confiscating the country and most of the internet will shut down.

[@GeorgeMartinJose]

Hi there. Sad to hear about Myanmar. Stay strong. ❤️ From 🇮🇳

[@minsan6696]

@@GeorgeMartinJose Thanks for praying us.

[@darin7553]

Briar is good for emergencies

[@rhapps121]

I thought this kind of app doesnt exist yet.

[@godarayudhvir]

if only links were clickable | those are just text, not hyperlinks

[@Ingentiy]

A Linux port would be nice

[@techlore]

It’s in alpha

[@Ingentiy]

Right, just saw it

[@iPigee]

Why no iOS?

[@metzger2193]

how to send images through Briar

[@anon6483]

take photo with you phone camera. process it through IMAGE PIPE (to remove meta data & reduce file size). select the photo ICON bottom right of BRIAR chat. select the IMAGEPIPE photo

[@ritamsarkar896]

Can u please explain matrix.org ( element massnger)?

[@FactFinderGeneral]

Keeping in mind it uses TOR, ie, government surveillance is almost guaranteed by default. Despite TOR prophets beliefs, nodes are heavily controlled by government agencies and it's not at all impossible to connect in a way that allows a three letter organization to do as they wish. We'll never know how many nodes, but likely a vast majority. On it's own, not a great idea for someone facing oppressive regimes or first world governments. You'll need to tinker and do more to ensure privacy and security.

[@nibblrrr7124]

On what sources are you basing the "likely a vast majority" claim on? We know from leaks that three-letter agencies are quite scared of mass-adoption of Tor. And we also know that they can surveil a large part of the clearnet, and that social media or messaging providers that do collect metadata sometimes share it on request, or are internally wiretapped already. So while Tor is not a magic cure-all, I don't think its worse than the alternatives. What do you mean by tinkering and doing more?

[@Fedreal_Bureau_Of_Investigaton]

@@nibblrrr7124 steganography and you're good

[@mrf_71]

Briar vs. Session

[@Suriprofz]

Real P2P is impossible on the internet.... Alot of nodes being passed before message received.

[@abhishekdadhich4072]

also you can never delete your data from BRIAR's server.... WTF

[@bolm-us6yb]

There are no Briar servers other than their webpage...

[@vitalino1981]

Panic button could've saved a lot of protesters in Belorussia

[@briar00bear420]

What

[@wendys_Note]

❤💪❤🤓

[@briar00bear420]

No I dont

[@willywabel8175]

Kick back from BRIAR???

[@peternrdstrm]

I love briar but none of my friend do🥺

[@treasurewuji8740]

You look a tad bit depressing in this video. What happened LOL

[@margaritabiz]

Another good one is SKRED messenger..

[@briar00bear420]

Dude not cool

[@Fedreal_Bureau_Of_Investigaton]

People with ios are like children in the privacy space, when they'll mature and become privacy conscious users they'll switch to an android anyway so i don't mind not having support for ios