I was under the impression that Matrix chats/SMS messages would all be under one app on the phone. I actually really liked the idea that there would be one chat app on the phone where everything would link into… For that reason I set up a matrix home server for myself and started to integrate other chats I use with it.
Now it seems like, from the most recent update on the phone, that we’re going to have two apps. One for SMS/XMPP and one for matrix. Is this correct? If so I see no reason to use matrix and will need to look at merging the other services with XMPP so that everything will show up under one app.
I get the impression that it will be two apps at first:
Chatty+Fractal
Later on they will remove XMPP support and have two app:
Gnome Messages and Gnome Conversations.
Gnome Messages will be SMS and E2E Matrix.
Gnome Conversations will be nonE2E Matrix.
I have gotten this impression by reading all the blogs, progress reports, and chatter in the community/librem5 Matrix room.
tl;dr Chatty is for SMS/XMPP and Fractal will be the Matrix app but is not ready.
But @tobias.bernard also said he wants to split the Fractal app into 2 apps. See his blog post https://blogs.gnome.org/tbernard/2018/05/16/banquets-and-barbecues/. Not sure if he wants to integrate Matrix in Chatty as the barbecue app. And release a separate banquet app for just Matrix. Maybe he can reply with some more information how that is going end up.
I would hope to see all text-based messaging integrated into one app,and that app to be integrated well with the dialer for voice and video calls, along the lines of the Apple Messages and Phone, and FaceTime apps. Or - to have something like the BlackBerry Hub, wherein comms from all of the apps on the device are aggregated into one place, and integrate across the system.
Chatting privately with a friend is not the same as discussing in a crowded IRC like public room. […] the user interface may have different requirements. This was discussed at the Fractal hackfest […] where Fractal developers decided that Fractal should be split into two distinct applications
The simplified Messages application we have been developing is based on the “barbecue” usecase; private 1 to 1 and small groups chats, the most common usage for the majority of the population. The plan is for the Messages application to be able to handle regular text messages (SMS) while also handling secure end-to-end encrypted messages in a transparent way between two compatible devices.
This is more in line with what I imagine being an optimal design.
Yeah, I saw that. I’m kind of disappointed that there is going to be more than one app for text messages.
I have to agree with dc3p:
Though, regardless of the outcome, I will only use matrix. I’m getting everything through that.
I’ve been writing an android app that will take SMS/MMS messages and forward them to a matrix server. I have this app installed on a phone, with my sim card and this phone stays at home 100% of the time. I then have a data only plan on a second phone that has Riot installed on it. I use this to text people and I just integrate everything with matrix on my server.
This also works when I leave the country. I just get a data sim at my destination and nothing has changed. I can text everyone the same I would at home. voip for phone calls
