Moxie's laid out very clear reasons for why he uses Google Play and
   discourages other people from building it. You may not agree with him,
   but he at least has what I think is a coherent security model that he's
   sticking to.
   Really great discussion on it here:
   [1]https://github.com/whispersystems/textsecure/issues/53
   [2]https://github.com/whispersystems/textsecure/issues/127
   Namely, he trusts apps signed with his signature (a process he manages
   using his own airgapped system) and that's it. *You* may not hinge your
   trust of the application on his signature, but he does, and he wants
   ideally every TextSecure install to have it.
   Both threads above are from before the CyanogenMod deal. To make that
   happen, Moxie's team built a secure self-update path for the app, which
   removed most of the barriers to requiring Google Play.
   The other main barrier is push delivery, which right now uses Google
   Cloud Messaging. High quality push delivery to a kabillion devices is
   very hard, and not easy to replace. However, Moxie has encouraged
   people to take advantage of the server's WebSockets support, and to
   build an option for that into the client if they want to remove the
   last barrier to Google support -- while warning that WebSockets
   delivery will not be nearly as good as GCM-based delivery.
   I was talking with a friend about this over the weekend, and I think
   that the push that's happening for fully reproducible builds -- where
   every build produces an identical binary with an identical hash --
   would resolve some of the issues Moxie has.
   Then, Moxie can sign the hash of the binary, and others who build the
   source code or get binaries from other places can verify that hash.
   That still requires some tooling or verification UX, and for builds to
   be reproducible by other people than Moxie, but it could make a
   difference.
   -- Eric

   On Thu, Nov 13, 2014 at 6:12 AM, Cathal Garvey
   <[3]cathalgarvey@cathalgarvey.me> wrote:

     Nope, I haven't had to install Play for Textsecure at all, and I
     don't use or have a personal Google account. When it offers to set
     up data channel, just skip it, and TS reverts to encrypting over SMS
     instead.
     Redphone also has a "no google" mode where it announces incoming
     calls to other RP users with a simultaneous SMS, but I've found it
     to be very buggy in my builds; calls connect but no sound
     transmitted, etc.
     As far as "where to get it", here's a copy:
     [4]https://ngrok.com:61924/owncloud/public.php?service=files&t=26465
     9e23e8733b528386eaa6f52d5ef
     Cert is self-signed:
     SHA1: 63:9B:E2:FA:D8:A9:66:DE:46:B7:E4:C2:18:47:73:04:C0:12:FE:1F
     SHA256:
     CF:D2:82:0D:C8:65:CE:EB:2E:3F:36:EC:DA:9E:82:4E:2E:BD:51:19:6A:7E:11
     :65:50:40:57:9E:B8:79:8D:A2
     This is an older build by now. Frankly I'm holding out for a JS
     build of Textsecure and I'll probably try FFOS, then. FDroid and
     Textsecure are my "killer apps" tying me to Android. I just wish
     Moxie would let them play nice together.

   On 12/11/14 23:13, Seth wrote:

     On Wed, 12 Nov 2014 14:29:04 -0800, <[5]bluelotus@openmailbox.org>
     wrote:

     Where can TextSecure be downloaded?

     Best workaround I've found so far if you want to download Google
     Play
     APKs on your computer and then transfer them to your phone manually
     is
     Raccoon:
     [6]http://www.onyxbits.de/raccoon
     Requires java along with a 'dummy' Google account, but gets the job
     done
     with the least amount of hassle.
     Unfortunately, it appears that TextSecure still requires the Google
     Services framework to be installed and running on the Android
     device.
     Haven't figured out yet how to do this manually this without
     installing
     Google Play.
     Also, FWIW, you can (or at least you used to be able to) manually
     remove
     a Google account from an Android phone without having to factory
     reset
     the device.
     [7]http://www.sleetherz.com/android-news/how-to-change-gmail-account
     -on-android-market-without-factory-reset/2511/

   --
   [8]konklone.com | [9]@konklone

References

   1. https://github.com/whispersystems/textsecure/issues/53
   2. https://github.com/whispersystems/textsecure/issues/127
   3. mailto:cathalgarvey@cathalgarvey.me
   4. https://ngrok.com:61924/owncloud/public.php?service=files&t=264659e23e8733b528386eaa6f52d5ef
   5. mailto:bluelotus@openmailbox.org
   6. http://www.onyxbits.de/raccoon
   7. http://www.sleetherz.com/android-news/how-to-change-gmail-account-on-android-market-without-factory-reset/2511/
   8. https://konklone.com/
   9. https://twitter.com/konklone