Usually when alternatives for messaging apps are recommended it’s Signal, Threema or Element but all of them still seem to have small inconveniences (Signal is American, Threema isn’t free and Element just seems too complicated).
Today I stumbled upon Delta Chat for the first time and it seems to be the ideal solution. It’s european, free, open-source, decentralised, usable on almost any device and privacy focused. But the fact that I’ve never heard about it before makes me hesitant.
Has anyone of you used it and can share their experience?
Edit: Here’s a link to their official website: https://delta.chat/en/
I use a fork of the DeltaChat client called ArcaneChat. I like it. It is easy to setup and to get others into a chat. You just provide a name on startup and it automatically creates an arcane email account for you. Moving it to a second device is as easy as using the app to pull up a QR code or getting a code it produces. Making chats with other people is similar. You can scan a QR code or send an invite link.
Also has plugins. I have a chat with an editor app so everyone in my household can add to the grocery list for instance. But there are plugins for games, rss feeds, and bridges to other platforms though I havent used these so im not sure how well they work.
My complaint and the others in my household is notifications. You might send or receive a message but wont get notified until an hour or two later. That said the very latest arcane chat does add a new setting that is supposed to help with that but i havent been on it lomg enough yet.
Also, to my knowledge you cannot lock the app itself like Signal can.
So desktop-to-desktop isn’t possible or ateadt not as easy?
You can export the QR code to the clipboard in text format. I’ve done it a few times, it works well for desktop to desktop