I tried SimpleX but the VPN kill switch on my phone prevents syncing with my computer.
I use telegram primarily as a note taking app with sync features.
Occasionally I send files to friends, so having easy set up for tech illiterate would be great.
I think Matrix is the way to go because you can host your own server and be completely self hosting without a 3rd party involved.
To add to this, XMPP is much cheaper to host and offers basically the same features when it comes to what OP needs. I host Prosody and it uses so little resources you could probably get it running on the cheapest server you could find.
It’s probably 15 years ago I used XMPP the last time. Back then there were many compatibility problems between the apps and especially on the mobile phone with push notifications, etc. There were problems sending media and VOIP calls were non existent outside of the Google clients.
My guess is that some of those things improved but I have not heard anyone in my circles using it, especially since Matrix became a bit more popular, most of the Open Source projects on IRC also moved to Matrix.
Yeah, XMPP has changed a loooott since then.
XMPP’s main problems at the moment are clients, in my opinion. There’s 3 main clients for PC; one is 100% python (including frontend) and breaks semi-regularly, one does not officially support Windows and thus cuts out a large portion of the community + doesn’t have as many features as others, and one lacks features and looks extremely outdated. The state on iOS is even worse as well, and Android is fine but could be better.
If you’re considering XMPP again, I’d recommend waiting a few months for Prose https://prose.org/ to fully release, it looks like it’ll improve the experience a lot.
Can you provide names of these clients you’re mentioning?
Python: Gajim Doesn’t support Windows: Dino Outdated: PSI+
most of the Open Source projects on IRC also moved to Matrix.
No, they moved to libera.chat
yeah, it’s “a considerable amount”, not “the most”
I’ve gone this route. Not for the faint of heart. If you’re not self-hosting savvy, but you know someone that hosts a server, absolutely sign up with them. Or use a local public server like pikaviestin.fi, which provides accounts for finnish citizens.
This. I‘m hosting a couple matrix servers and have many friends who have a ton of issues. It really depends on the admin and how tech savvy everyone involved is. If you cant be arsed to understand how key sharing works and check out which is the best client for you, matrix might bot be the best choice. I love it, personally but I suggest it rarely since tech illiterate users tend to get really upset about a free product not matching their insane standards.
From a security standpoint it leaves something to be desired but for just notes it is fine. It also is good for public rooms
Just a heads up about people’s suggestions on signal. If you don’t open your desktop client often and it needs to be logged back in it will not sync your latest notes to self messages (perhaps other messages too).
Signal.
Signal is not available for Android tablets, which was a deal breaker when I tried to move my family off Telegram.
Tablets can’t run mobile apps?
Signal needs a phone number
“Don’t you guys have phones?”
Also, I htought 99% of tablets connect to the mobile network using a SIMcard, but even if you rely only on wifi, see my previous quote.
which does not need to be in the tablet
It does. The Signal app for Android does not support being a secondary device. It must be the primary device with a phone number.
In addition, whatever Play Store settings they use excluded all of our tablets, even the one that had a SIM. Manually installing the APK worked for this case, but that didn’t really solve our problem.
It does. The Signal app for Android does not support being a secondary device. It must be the primary device with a phone number.
do you mean that it does not have a prompt for the SMS code anymore, and it reads the code only from the received SMS?
In addition, whatever Play Store settings they use excluded all of our tablets, even the one that had a SIM
that’s a weird choice, I thought a main goal of them was user freedom
deleted by creator
It is in fact available for tablets
Only iPads.
And and device running Android
I was a Signal defender (although I still use it because it’s better than Telegram or WhatsApp) but now I’m more pushing for DeltaChat, Matrix and XMPP.
All of those are worse
Worse than what? Fully featured chat, E2EE, can be self-hosted and federated. They have it all.
Most matrix clients just collect loads of data, so meh
well if you accept it at the setup, then yeah, it does
Well signal also has the note to self.
People will hate this, but WhatsApp is probably the second best and convenient to most people. (But if your friends are willing to get signal, do it.) In fact it was always better than telegram, there I said it.
Also there’s many great note taking apps that have a sync feature. Joplin for one.
Out of the fire and into the pot
joplin and all the others who want to run yet another web browser in parralel on your resource constrained phone.
I know, my fault that my phone does not have at least 16 GB of RAM…
about whatsapp: used it for years. it’s not any better. the only part in which it could be is encryption, but only if
- you trust how that black box handles encryption, and your messages before and after it
- you trust that it’ll not datamine the shit out of whatever it has access to on your phone
- you are fine with the yearly remote code execution vulnerabilities it has through calls and such you didnt even notice, let alone accept
deleted by creator
Has a strong smell of: https://xkcd.com/1172/
signal is the simplest alternative, it’s actually better than telegram since it doesn’t save data
I just have some syncthing shared folders with friends/family. It may be a little weird to set up, but once there, it’s seamless.
I use Joplin for notes.
YMMV, but my minimum requirements were:
-
Federated just like lemmy or mastodon or email, so I can choose a server or even selfhost.
-
First class clients for Linux available, not only Android/iOS, no Electron bloatware.
-
No phone number involved.
That rules out Signal, Whatsapp and some more. Matrix fits. However I prefer #Jabber a.k.a. #XMPP. Matter of taste, I guess 🤷
PS: “Note to yourself”, incl. file upload, is supported by all servers and most clients, AFAIK.
@debacle @TheDorkfromYork I’m still waiting for #gajim 1.9 to be available under #archlinux … (I don’t want to install the flatpak). Yes #xmpp is the way and #quicksy help me convert some people.
Snikket seems nice as well.
Jabber and XMPP aren’t really alternatives as they are just protocols. They don’t have a stable feature set and aren’t necessarily encrypted by default.
The #Jabber feature sets are defined in the compliance suite, e.g. here:
“XEP-0479: #XMPP Compliance Suites 2023”
https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0479.html#im
Many Jabber clients do end-to-end encryption by default. I would not care too much in the age of #surveillance directly at the source, i.e. on the device 🤷
If you want an even more coherent feature set and also be sure, all your clients encrypt by default, your best bet is #Snikket by @snikket_im. Highly recommended!
The by default is the problem
-
I know that habit of using messenger app for notes :) Try [matrix] using Element or SchildiChat. It’s e2eencrypted and federated, and even supports markdown formatting in messages. Also some Slack features are included. The only issue for non-techy person might be verifying sessions - just be sure to use the same client on all devices.
None Signal is shit
There are lots of options. Why are you using a chat app for note taking?
Couldn’t you just get a markdown note app that syncs with something like syncthing?
I don’t know their exact use case, but I use it a lot to save links. They can be saved very quick to the saved messages “chat”.
However, recently I got a new phone and now the Matrix client is also opening quickly, instead of taking 10+ seconds, so I’ll switch to sending them to a private room with me being the only participant.
But! I think Markor (from F-droid) also allows sharing arbitrary text to a file, so that could work too. A chat app may be better, though, because it records exact timestamps, and always records linksas a distinct message, so it may be more suitable for your own automated processing later.If I want to share something with a friend, I can invite them to note chats or bulk forward files. Messages are separate, I can forward individual message rather than all messages. It’s more continent than notes apps I’ve tried.
