I've now had Signal installed and in use for several days and here's a (hopefully unbiased), mostly issues based, comparison against VSee after usage between three family members, phones and desktop ...
Signal:
Security - Apparently the best, but have you actually studied the source code or encryption? If not, then blind faith.
Identity - Phone number based.
Android App UI...
- Mostly ok and similar to Whatsapp.
- Notification ticks seem intermittent, sometimes delivered but only shows one tick.
- One case of application hanging (Pixel 4A). Messages shown as delivered (2 ticks) but never arrived or notified, Required Force Stop and run again.
- Messaging sluggish compared to VSee.
- Video quality poorer than VSee.
Windows App...
- Verging on unusable.
- Startup is slow.
- If messaging has been happening between phones since it was last run, it can take several minutes downloading messages before you can do anything.
- When using a webcam (the reason for using the desktop version in the first place), it only sends a narrow vertical central strip of the camera image to the phone, not the full 4:3 image. There does not seem to be any setting to correct this.
- The video that is transmitted and received was poorer quality (detail and smoothness) than VSee.
- Running on two laptops last night, it persistently reported 'Disconnected' for several hours. Pushing the connect button said unable to connect - check for network problems. All other web connected apps (email, browser) continued to work fine.
VSee:
Security - Blind faith, based on company's core business and corporate users.
Identity - Email address based.
Android App UI...
- More minimalist compared to Signal and Whatsapp, but clean. For instance, no camera Icon, so if you want to send a photo then you have to take it separately and 'Share' it into VSee therefore less spontaneous.
- Displays a 'Logging in' screen for a couple of seconds when you first open it.
- Fast messaging response compared to Signal, similar to WhatsApp.
- On one phone (Pixel 4A again) it often does not wake the phone with a notification leading to missed messages (messages are delivered). Suspect this is due to Google applying more 'power saving' functions to improve the Pixel's less than stellar battery life. No problems with notifications on other phones (Nokia and Samsung).
- Decent video.
Windows App...
- Plays happily between phone and desktop using the same email ID. No delays on startup or message loading issues.
- Video quality superior to Signal (presumably due to better compression). Can't compare with WhatsApp because desktop app doesn't work on Windows 7.
- Occasional 'Mickey Mouse' audio (Desktop to phone) when starting a call, requiring hang up and re-call. Always seems to work the second attempt. When calling desktop to desktop, the Mickey Mouse issue can happen in either direction, but again is successful on retry. Does not occur mid-call
- Fast delivery of messages, with simultaneous notification on phone and desktop.
- No issues with displaying full webcam resolution.
- Can drag and drop large files for quick transfer (haven't tried this on Signal desktop).
Anyway, these are my findings. I've tried to stay purely factual rather than opinion in the comparison. Maybe I'm missing some things, but this comparison is based on our actual needs - Messaging and video between phones, and importantly, video conversation with distant family member using a laptop and webcam for the comfort of a big screen, being able to sit comfortably side by side on the sofa.
I hope this helps somebody. At this point I am reluctant to uninstall either app (or WhatApp) until I know if Signal is likely to improve in the short term. I haven't tried Telegram, but from what I've read here and in the media, I don't think I will, I don't need any further bells and whistles.