URL seems to be wrong … here’s the correct URL
cross-posted from: https://merv.news/post/82405
It will be open source, end to end encrypted using Signal’s double ratchet encryption protocol, and he plans to make it easy for fediverse platforms to integrate it. The beta will release later this month.
He’s also the creator of https://fedidb.org btw
What’s wrong with just using matrix?
Dunno TBH. It is apparently using the signal protocol, so there’s that, and it’s being spun out of pixelfed’s own IM/DM feature, which is generally all over the place across the fediverse, so it all kinda makes sense I guess.
That doesn’t mean anything. For example, WhatsApp is “using the signal protocol” but is very much a walled garden.
Sure … it seems they were making a DM app for their platform and realised that it could be good as a standalone app.
Part of the picture for them is that pixelfed has started to experiment with transferable IDs or authentication, so that you can signup to pixelfed straight with a pre-existing mastodon account. It seems that want the same for this app. So the idea, I’m guessing, would be that if you want to start DMing with someone you know over the fediverse, you can go straight to this app, sign in straight away with your fediverse credentials, get your usual alias and find your friends with their same aliases. If true, I’d imagine that’d make it easier to sort side-load the app with any particular instance.
If you care about privacy and security, matrix has some glaring flaws. The biggest IMO is not currently encrypting metadata, so who you talk to and when is plaintext. The signal protocol encrypts everything, including the meta data.
How does the server know who to deliver a message to if the metadata is encrypted?
🤝
I care about privacy and security so much that I don’t let a third-party own my chats, encrypted or not. I’m fine with unencrypted metadata on my server that’s in my own home.
@featured
Better yet, check out simplex chat https://simplex.chat/
It’s the best of all…user friendly as well:)And it appears to have support on @yunohost - So self hosting should be easy 👍
@featured @min_fapper
That’s just privacy, not security.
I like Daniel’s constant work to improve/add features to PixelFed, but he also tends to rush stuff out and then have to fix it later. So personally, I would wait until he’s had time to figure out any flaws and bugs.
Not sure how I feel about this being a standalone app, it already feels like there’s so many vying for attention, with IRC, XMPP and Matrix being federated already. While Signal exists, I’m not sure how I feel about it being a walled garden despite being open source.
I do love the idea of it hopefully being added to Fediverse platforms though - even though it makes sense to use an actual messaging app for messaging, it’s user expectation that you can just message people on any platform you’re on easily, it’s something Mastodon desperately needs.
Edit: Really though, what I want to see is an interoperable protocol being picked (Signal is actually one of them, FWIW, the Foundation just doesn’t federate with its flagship app due to “user experience and innovation” per Moxie), and then people make their platforms on that, just like how ActivityPub has become the standard for interoperable social media.
Sounds interesting. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on how it plays out.
