I installed Signal on my cellphone and it did require a phone number during setup but does it ever need you to use that number again? (I haven’t used Signal long enough to know.) I used a landline number that I have regular access to but is there anything to stop you using a payphone for anonymity?
Unlike some apps it didn’t insist I use the number of the cellphone itself nor did it check the number for “validity” (some apps won’t allow VOIP numbers, or require human intervention to do so).
UPDATE: I just now tried to install Wire. It also required a phone number and was happy to send a code to my landline. The app then failed to accept the code, with the helpful error message “something went wrong”.
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Wire does not require a phone number. It does allow you to provide one if you like.
With Signal, you need the phone number later because the phone number is the only way to add people. Also, note that you may have to enter the phone exactly as they originally entered it in order for it to be found. I know that's how What'sApp works, and with What'sApp, you can't even start the conversation from within the app. You've got to leave the app and add them to your contacts first, then go back to the app and search to see if it found them, and then go back and edit the contact to twiddle the formatting of the phone number if it didn't, until it finally does or you give up. It's pretty much the worst UX imaginable, I have no idea why people put up with it. At least Signal lets you do it all from within the app so it takes like a tenth of the time and effort.
Wire is very misleading!
Anyone only trying to install it on a cell would assume a phone number was required because the “create an account” page in the app only gives that option.
It was only because you said Wire didn’t need a phone number that I bothered to install it on my PC where the “create an account” page allowed me the option of using an email address instead (which I could then use to log in on my cell). Who designs these things?