Need something achievable for an extremely tech illiterate person on iOS. I got told about this after they are already gone and have no access to the device, but am asked to solve the problem.
Signal works wonders without google play
Can even get the apk from their website that has a self updater so no aurora store/playstore needed also available on ios. Simplex is another option but not as user friendly for older folk
It’s a pain that they are so secret about the webpage, but here it is, if you want to install the Signal apk for non-google-play devices:
https://signal.org/android/apk/
Note: this is a different version than the one on google play because it defaults to websocket. The one on Google play will not work without google play (what technically will not work is the notifications I believe, but I’m not sure anymore, it’s been a while since I was in that situation). Besides that, I believe the versions are identical. Also, this version will send you a notification for updates which are done by the app itself.
It has worked flawlessly for years for me.
Why not just use an F-Droid repo?
There is a Foss version repository in f-Droid. Or you can download an apk from their website.
As others have pointed out here, Signal is a very good choice.
Element works without play services and has iOS & Android apps (plus web) and has a pretty friendly UI.
It’s also available from F-Droid, so you wouldn’t even need a Google Play downloader.
What is GP? without phone access?
What is GP?
Probably ‘Google Play [Services]’.
without phone access?
OP doesn’t have access to the phone(s) to install & setup something for them.
Simplex chat
I would say Signal, like others have pointed out.
Alternatively you could try Threema
Putting in my recommendation for Signal, use it to message, call and video call between android and iOS.
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These are probably less ideal for the tech illiterate, but they are available for iOS and haven’t been mentioned yet:
Session
Element / Matrix (edit to note someone else did already mention element above in the thread)
This sounds tricky…
The only iOS message bridge i’m aware of is AirMessage, and that requires a Mac computer to act as the app’s server
They asked for any cross platform messages app, not an iMessage bridge. I’d say Element
Oh oops, my bad - I misunderstood the question…
Don’t blame yourself, it was extremely poorly worded and unnecessarily confusing.
