Why is it more likely you'll have internet access when you don't have a phone? If you happen to find a computer, what's insufficient about writing an email?

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SoftTalker 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

How will you log into your email from a strange computer without your phone. Gmail has required 2-factor auth for a long time.

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LasEspuelas 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

You have to set up those backup codes and keep them in your wallet or somewhere independent of your phone and in your person at all times.

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306bobby 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I get your point, but believe it or not there's more email services than just Gmail

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prepend 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Really, because I’ve been working to move off gmail for 5 years and it’s slim pickings.

I’ve tried fastmail, protonmail, outlook and they all suck. Gmail is probably the only google account I still use.

	▲	SoftTalker 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I like fastmail but any provider worth using is going to have 2FA mandatory so that will be an issue regardless. Gmail was just a (popular) example.

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embedding-shape 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[dead]

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delduca 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

My wife doesn't check email frequently, so SMS (or even better, WhatsApp) would be more reliable.

Maybe an alternative is to store the WhatsApp contact information of people who could help behind a password.

Then, if I need help, I can ask to borrow someone's phone on the street. If they don't have WhatsApp, I can just make a regular phone call instead.

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fn-mote 5 hours ago | parent [-]

> If they don't have WhatsApp

Is this really likely? I would guess only 70 year olds don't have WhatsApp.

Seems more likely you forget the impoprtant phone numbers because you never enter them manually.

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malfist 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Nobody in my friend group has a WhatsApp and I'm a millennial.

	▲	venzaspa 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Depends where you are, in most European countries, everyone including their grandmas will use Whatsapp.
	▲	j45 5 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		It doesn’t have to be just for one type of user.

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x187463 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

With iMessage, Discord, and Signal, I can't imagine a use case for me or anyone I know to use WhatsApp.

	▲	nerdsniper 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		The vast majority of the world defaults to whatsapp. But yes, other than convention, any of these could be equivalent. I don’t see why you would care for Discord over whatsapp except that it’s what you happen to use already.

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sheept 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

WhatsApp is not universally used. Line, WeChat, and KakaoTalk are more common in East Asia

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NDlurker 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

In the US, the only people I know who use WhatsApp are immigrants who use it to talk to friends and family back home.

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appreciatorBus 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

lol not 70, no Whatsapp.