We hereby challenge all other messaging apps, FOSS or not, to provide a more convenient private onboarding experience than #deltachat
1. Install app
2. "Create new profile"
3. Enter nick name, tap "Agree and continue"
4. Tap "+" and "new contact" and provide/scan qr code/link
Voila! A secure private chat, familiar to those coming from Whatsapp or Telegram (without "AI", with #a11y).
Note: chat identities are private and can not be queried or discovered. Servers keep no track or metadata
Signal's president claimed it takes billions to replicate the availability and reliability of "hyperscalers" (AWS/Google/Microsoft/Cloudfare) that Signal uses.
#chatmail and #deltachat are about disproving this claim by
1) making relays super cheap (DONE)
2) enabling chat profiles to use multiple relays redundantly (WIP)
3) distributing relay knowledge among chatters (TBD).
Fat servers, corporate overlords and billionaires: not needed and better to not exist for a convivial e2ee future :)
What if a state tries to mandate us as #deltachat app devs/distributors to shut down a chat profile?
Nothing. It can't be done.
We have no list of chat identities, have no handle or data about them, and don't mediate the message transfer.
However, EU #Chatcontrol politicians and Russian authorities would want us to insert backdoors into our FOSS code. But that is nothing than can happen overnight, and we are fine with friendly forks already. Resilient private internet communication ftw :)
Some people in #Iran successfully use delta with national email providers when outside Internet is cut.
#deltachat designs are #OfflineFirst using delay tolerant protocols. Messages are queued when a path is blocked. email servers are made for this and run at planetary scale.
Messages crossing the border may arrive three days later but they arrive.
Peoples can stay in private touch across time and space, to the extent possible in current breakdown times. Which is what delta is about.
It had to happen: in-chat multi-player #Quake III Arena #webxdc app, running over @n0iroh@mastodon.social and using the fine work of https://ioquake3.org/ folks. Quake3 app is 1.2MB but you need to download once a game file of ~50 MB. It's only one level.
Realtime-P2P-networked multiplayer gaming arranged through securely end-to-end encrypted email, from a group chat!
Both Quake3's in-game chat as well as game play messages have forward-secrecy. What a weird future, eh? :)
https://webxdc.org/apps/#wofwca-quake3
It took a while but it's shaping up nicely :) Post-Quantum Cryptography and Reliable Deletion, better known as Forward Secrecy, are going to become available in 2026 in #deltachat. For more details, including the recent #fosdem26 talk recording:
https://autocrypt2.org
Relax 😎
! GPG is not OpenPGP!
Yesterday, vulnerabilities were published https://gpg.fail but they don't affect #deltachat or other #chatmail clients because
A) We never used #gnupg for anything; we use the modern #rustlang #openpgp implementation @rpgp@mastodon.social, security audited multiple times.
B) #openpgp is fine, as modernized in #RFC9580, which already warns against several #gpgfail issues (gpg didn't implement that spec)
Please spread the word that #gpg is not #openpgp ... Thanks! #39c3
#deltachat PSAs regarding the last 24 hours:
1) If you messaged someone about 20-30 hours ago, and did not get an expected response/receipt better "resend" (long-tap or right-click the message to resend). Unfortunately, not all queued messages at the crashing nine.testrun.org server made it to the new one.
2) 2.33+ app releases are rolling out, supporting using "multiple relays" so that failing relays (like happened above) will not cause lost messages anymore. See https://support.delta.chat/t/how-to-migrate-your-profile-to-another-relay-version-2-33/
A few things #deltachat apps are doing positively different from #Signal apps
- easiest onboarding ever; not depending on phone numbers or other private data
- support for multiple chat profiles/identities
- decentralized servers, not depending on US-based GAFAM etc.
- migration from one app/platform to any other
- easy multi-device support for any chat profile
- developers have chances to get their PRs merged :)
- mini-apps support via https://webxdc.org
anything missing?
We hereby challenge all other messaging apps, FOSS or not, to provide a more convenient private onboarding experience than #deltachat
1. Install app
2. "Create new profile"
3. Enter nick name, tap "Agree and continue"
4. Tap "+" and "new contact" and provide/scan qr code/link
Voila! A secure private chat, familiar to those coming from Whatsapp or Telegram (without "AI", with #a11y).
Note: chat identities are private and can not be queried or discovered. Servers keep no track or metadata
Signal's president claimed it takes billions to replicate the availability and reliability of "hyperscalers" (AWS/Google/Microsoft/Cloudfare) that Signal uses.
#chatmail and #deltachat are about disproving this claim by
1) making relays super cheap (DONE)
2) enabling chat profiles to use multiple relays redundantly (WIP)
3) distributing relay knowledge among chatters (TBD).
Fat servers, corporate overlords and billionaires: not needed and better to not exist for a convivial e2ee future :)
What if a state tries to mandate us as #deltachat app devs/distributors to shut down a chat profile?
Nothing. It can't be done.
We have no list of chat identities, have no handle or data about them, and don't mediate the message transfer.
However, EU #Chatcontrol politicians and Russian authorities would want us to insert backdoors into our FOSS code. But that is nothing than can happen overnight, and we are fine with friendly forks already. Resilient private internet communication ftw :)
What are the main obstacles for you to adopt usage of #deltachat apps with your families, friends or communities?
if you have other issues than the poll options please add to the replies. Oh, and those who are also living through heat waves: stay hydrated, and remind everyone else :)
The UK's national drought group is falling ridiculously short when recommending to delete old emails. How about
- stop building any new data centers, progressively tax on their size and resource consumption, no free riding
- legislatively focus on software to become more resource efficient (hint: AI hurts not helps with that)
In any case, #chatmail relays unconditionally remove emails, no user action needed. Everything interesting happens on end devices see https://en.reset.org/decentralised-efficient-without-being-addictive-delta-chat-is-our-favourite-instant-messenger/
We are impressed with the new https://fightchatcontrol.eu/ website, and the way it provides all the info needed to engage in distributed diverse action to prevent the EU from preparing the ground for, or sliding into, authoritarianism by breaking end-to-end encryption for everyone. Germany and France are particularly important to engage with and we'll see what we can do from our circles. We don't know the people behind https://mastodon.social/@chatcontrol but big kudos!
#chatcontrol
Delta Chat