For the past month, I have been using Element X Android with Simplified Sliding Sync as my primary Matrix client on my phone.

[email protected]

For the past month, I have been using Element X Android with Simplified Sliding Sync as my primary Matrix client on my phone. I have to say...

It's working really well! More specifically, it works well in ways that are obvious to people with no interest in technology: it runs fast, smoothly, reliably, and is easy to navigate.

Right now Element X is "beta," and it's still missing many features (notably account registration). That means I can't (yet) recommend it to people with no interest in tech, but I hope that will change.

I am in many group chats using either WhatsApp or SMS with people who have little or no interest in technology and could never be convinced to install a "desktop client" for a messenger. Once Element X graduates to stable, and once Element Web switches to Simplified Sliding Sync, I'm going to start recommending Element as a WhatsApp alternative.

#Element #ElementX #ElementWeb #ElementXAndroid #Matrix #WhatsApp #SMS

everypizza :v_gay: :v_trans: :v_lesbian:

@[email protected] schildichat next is based on element x and has way more features, and less battery usage!

[email protected]

1)I am not going to tell people with no interest in tech to "use the Matrix protocol and pick a client from this long list." That's not going to win anyone over. I'm also not going to tell people who are only willing to use mobile and web clients to install a desktop client: that's also not going to convince anyone.

Element has the advantage that it's a single brand-name that works on iOS, Android, and Web. Even though I personally like Fractal, the kinds of people I talk to over WhatsApp are not going to use Fractal.

2)I can't recommend XMPP because there are no clients to recommend. The only chat XMPP web client is not good enough. Moreover, aside from AstroChat (which is paid), I am not aware of any mobile clients that work on both iOS and Android, and I'm not going to recommend an iOS client if I can't test it myself.

3)IRC is also not a good option: The people I talk to check our devices at different times of day, so a protocol that hinges on the assumption that everyone is online simultaneously is not viable. Maybe if ChatHistory gets widely implemented I can reconsider IRC. Also, there's the same issue regarding mobile clients as XMPP (though unlike XMPP, there is at least one good web IRC client.)

#XMPP #IRC #ChatHistory #Matrix

[email protected]

@[email protected] Last time I tried Schildi Next was a few months ago and it was far buggier, but maybe that's improved. I'll give it another try soon. However, I can't recommend Schildi to my meatspace friends because a lot of them are iOS users.

Andrzej Czerniak 🇵🇱:linux:

@183231bcb Android - Conversations (FDroid free) and iOS MonalIM also free.

uexo

@183231bcb People can use Thunderbird, Outlook, Gmail, etc. just fine. They understand it's all just email. For email, there is no need that clients on different platforms need to be the same.

But even if some of your contact's thinking is not flexible enough to understand something not more complicated than email, the XMPP community still has you covered! Quicksy is a mobile client that works on both iOS and Android.

uexo

@183231bcb Also, which of the eight XMPP web clients listed on xmpp.org is the one that is "the only XMPP web client" and not good enough? https://xmpp.org/software/?platform=browser

[email protected]

@[email protected] I was specifically thinking of MonalIM when I said I wouldn't recommend an iOS client that I couldn't test myself. I don't have an iOS device or a Mac, so I can't test MonalIM. I like Conversations, but I can't recommend it to an iOS user.

[email protected]

@[email protected]

1)Actually, many of the people I interact with *can't* (or won't) use Thunderbird or Outlook Desktop. They use Gmail Web or Outlook Web on their computers, and either the Gmail, Outlook, or Apple Mail apps on their phones. They understand that not everyone is using the same email client or provider, but that doesn't mean they're automatically willing to install a desktop client.

2)This is the first I've heard of Quicksy, I'll give it a try.

[email protected]

@[email protected] It might have changed since the last time I checked, but IIRC most of the web clients on that list either
a)Weren't publicly deployed anywhere I could direct someone to, or
b)Required installing a browser extension.

The two outliers were ConverseJS and Movim. The latter is (AFAIK?) intended more as a social networking client than a IM/chat client.

My experience with ConverseJS was too rough to recommend to a non-tech person.

But things change. Which XMPP web client would you recommend now?

tkr

@183231bcb i prefer xmpp, dino (pc/mobile), monal (ios) or quicksy/conversations (android) definitely

developsman

@183231bcb
For every non beta tester there is element or fluffychat or schildi available on fdroid, Google play store or Apple store.

They are stable and chat, call and videocall and even jitsu conference works.
A favor of matrix and xmpp over other systems is you can install a desktop app in parallel and use them async. No need to scan a qr code for that and keep the mobile on for.

[email protected]

@[email protected] Neither of those have sliding sync.

I use FluffyChat for inline spoilers, but I made this thread to talk about messaging clients I could recommend to people with no interest in technology. They'd notice if their messages in FluffyChat take much longer to sync than in WhatsApp, and they wouldn't care about the advantages of a decentralized open source protocol.

[email protected]

@[email protected] I'm talking about messengers I can recommend to non-tech people, including some who categorically refuse to install anything on their laptops if it didn't come pre-installed.