Think of it like email. You need a client (like Gmail or Outlook), which for Matrix is usually Element, Schildichat (a fork of Element), or Fluffychat. You also need a server (like gmail.com). The most popular one is matrix.org, though it doesn’t have any bridges. To get bridges, you either need to run your own server (much easier than it sounds with this) or use a server with bridges built in. Bridges are tied to the server. You also get an address, of the form @name:example.com, where example.com is the homeserver.
If you want to do it the easy (but slightly proprietary) way, Beeper is basically commercialized Matrix with preinstalled bridges and a slightly better UI.
nakal@kbin.social 7 months ago
You just need a client like Element.io or other clients. If you don't want to connect to the main server
matrix.orgwhich is quite slow, you choose one from the federation.People who own a server and know how to do administration tasks can install their own instance and attach it to the federation. You can use one of the Matrix server applications for self-hosting.