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Comment on Looking for a selfhostable chat service that people on phone and computers can log onto

You could use Matrix but it is very finicky and complicated.

You could use XMPP but they don’t have any nice clients.

You could use Zulip but it’s confusing as fuck to navigate.

You could use Mattermost but it’s tied to a corporation that seems intent on removing features from the open source version to convince you to buy a license.

You could use Quiet (not self-hosted but p2p) but it’s very new and very Alpha.

You can use NextCloud Talk but that’s probably more than you need, and it seems to be very difficult to maintain for many.

I won’t engage in any arguments, these are just my opinions, and options for OP.

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lambalicious@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

You could use XMPP but they don’t have any nice clients

[citation needed]

There’s at least three good clients for Desktop (multiplatform) and two for Android.

Plus, XMPP is the best thing to run service-wise. Relatively cheap, runs on a potato, not a nu-protocol that requires a server cluster and friggin’ npm.

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- goatinspace@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  conversations, dino for xmpp
  
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HybridSarcasm@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I appreciate your take. Thanks for the contribution!

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Lyra_Lycan@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
XMPP for my attempt just worked, voice and video calling too. The Android clients Monocles, Cheogram and Conversations are great, as for desktop they all look like 90’s messaging clients haha

I ultimately switched to Matrix because the encryption key sharing is much more friendly, at least for helping non-enthusiasts use it, and I didn’t realise I could decrypt old XMPP messages for new clients by transferring them manually, but at least Element Web is nice. It has flaws, definitely - on Android I find myself using Element Classic for creating unencrypted rooms and voice/video calling using my TURN server, and Element X for general messaging, caption and Markdown support. That’s another thing - for me the Element clients are the closest to being usable, the few others are borked.

In short XMPP is ugly but functional, and the client devs try their best, and Matrix is enticing but, as you said, finicky. Element is pretty but their new client that promises full e2ee for calling hasn’t reached a level I would consider out of Beta yet.

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