New Messages -App Thunderbolt replaces telephone numbers with domains, genius innovation or just tech hipster bait?
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- The Thunderbolt from Spaceship replaces your telephone number with a domain name – if you are technical enough
- Thunderbolt promises end-to-end coding and no central storage
- Domain names are safe, but may not be practical for daily messages and calls
Thunderbolt, a new app developed by domain registrar Spaceship, is intended to replace telephone numbers and e-mail addresses with domain names for speech, video and text communication.
Thunderbolt is promoted as a privacy-oriented alternative to existing platforms and uses DNS property as a form of identity verification. Spaceship says that this approach avoids the vulnerabilities of centralized databases and traditional login data.
Although it shares conceptual similarities with systems such as What3words, which translate complex data into simpler, more memorable units, Thunderbolt applies this idea to communication rather than geography.
The field and the privacy corner
Thunderbolt presents a domain as a ‘digital house’ that can serve as a universal identification. With this concept, users can call or send messages with a domain such as “Alice.Chat” instead of a telephone number.
The company claims that domain names are safer, inherently private and are easier to remember. “A domain is a public address, but it unveils nothing personal,” says the company.
Thunderbolt also promises end-to-end coding and not a central message storage, which claims to deliver a high degree of privacy. Security is linked to DNS property, where DNSSEC is used to further verify access.
However, this model assumes that users are comfortable to navigate domain registration and DNS -Server Settings, tasks that many still find opaque and not -intuitively.
The claim that the platform is ‘virtually impossible to hack’, also justifies skepticism. Although decentralized identity and DNSSEC offer strong protection, no system is completely immune to a compromise.
Thunderbolt supports traditional domains, as well as handshake and Ens domains and offers compatibility with external registrars.
Nevertheless, the onboarding experience of the app has been optimized for users who register domains through spaceship, which expresses concern about supplier locking and true dedication to decentralization.
For a tool that emphasizes user control and independence, this preference seems to conflict with the indicated goals, because users can be wary to be led to a single provider under the guise of convenience.
There is also the broader question how many people actually want to manage their identity through domain infrastructure. Although this can rely on those who already perform personal websites or online portfolios, the average consumer may find it cumbersome compared to services that work outside the box.
Thunderbolt comes in a busy market that is dominated by platforms such as WhatsAppZoom and Skype. People looking for the Best alternative to Skype Perhaps it appreciates that Thunderbolt has no advertisements, uses strong coding and gives users more control over their identity.
However, it remains unclear how well the platform performs on a scale, or how easy it is to find and connect others in the app.
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