Whether an app like Telegram is secure or not has already been answered and it has recently been confirmed that it is not. Apps like Signal and Cryptocat have been recommended instead. But do these apps also offer a good web application?
In Telegram, there are two different types of chats: A normal one and a secret chat. One can use the web application when using the normal chat, but one cannot use it when using the secret chat. This may be due to the fact that one has to temper the wind to the shorn lamb. If the chat function is available on several devices, instant messaging can only be as secure as the least secure operating system can guarantee it. I don’t even know whether Telegram’s normal chats that are being used via the web application provide an end-to-end encryption.
So, I ask myself: Do Signal or Cryptocat or any other very good chat client in terms of privacy offer an end-to-end encryption from phone to phone, but also from phone to desktop or desktop to desktop? That is: They offer a good web application as well? A web application with end-to-end encryption and maybe even the possibility to browse through the chat history (which would be nice, but it is not a must)?
I know that using web applications can make the whole communication less secure instead of just sticking to one device with one operating system. But it is also a trade-off in my opinion. I, for example, am way faster when writing texts on a proper keyboard – and not on a mobile phone.
