anyone using #beeper? how do you like it? how's their storage of credentials? that's the only bit that really makes me nervous.
i'm also curious how well #matrix works for it. my general experience with matrix as an end user with "normal" people has been overall terrible, even with great projects like @element
@hobbsc@element depends, you login on the client and they scrape the session ID's and store them on their server.
But they also work on new version of the bridges, currently in Android there is a local Signal bridge where they keep the session ID locally. That was possible with SMS too once, but they didnt add that back in the 2.0 android app.
They have merged with texts.com which is fully locally so who knows what will happen there.
• I've actually had an easier time keeping up with Slack than in Slack itself
• Initially I ran clients side by side but Beeper updates just as fast and I've since stopped running most except for Discord which I use for calls
• Even so, it's great to run it in parallel to Discord, because it's easier to text chat in Beeper while in a video call
Eh ben les amis, je peux vous dire que je suis HYPER CONTENTE d'avoir découvert l'application #beeper qui centralise toutes tes applis de messagerie : sms, whatsapp, signal, télégram, messenger, on peut même mettre les DM de Insta ou linkedin.
Je kiffe et pour toustes celleux qui en ont marre d'écrire sur 1000 applis différentes, je vous la recommande à 100% !
Beeper is awesome. I have now all my instant messaging in the same app including Telegram, Matrix, Signal, WhatsApp, Instagram DM, LinkedIn DM and even IRC. https://www.beeper.com
How do you feel about #Beeper, #Automattic and Automattic acquiring Beeper?
TBH credit is due where credit is due. Nobody can predict the real intentions of a company, least of all engineers, but Beeper has from day 1 built its product on top of #Matrix, it has made it much easier to install and configure messaging bridges (even to those less likely to go through the hassle of configuring a full Synapse server and install bridges with huge configuration files), and it has challenged Apple head-to-head with the iMessage bridge.
I feel that Beeper joining forces with Automattic will give the company both:
Stronger shoulders to defend themselves from lawsuits coming from the likes of Apple and anybody who has made it their business mission to oppose inter-operability as long as they can - Apple can’t simply take down a Github repo with a snap of their fingers if that Github repo is owned by the same company that also owns Wordpress, at least not without a lengthy legal battle on the blueprint of Epic v Apple. Moreover, sclerotic corporate scum with an outdated business model like Apple will just never understand how big of a favour they do to small companies like Beeper when they attack them. Beeper was in beta until recently. Then it got a lot of attention after Apple declared war to its iMessage bridge. Consequence: the largest company on earth suddenly put a relatively small product like Beeper under the spotlight, its user-base went up by an order of magnitude or so within a short time frame, they rushed their way out of beta, and now Automattic is acquiring them. There’s no better publicity than an aggressive rent-seeking parasite waging war against your product.
More opportunities to sit at a table with the likes of Google, Meta etc. and get them to actually build the open alternatives together, instead of reverse engineering their closed garden and play and endless catch-up game with them.
The timing of this announcement is also perfect, as the EU’s #DMA is just about to make inter-operability a requirement for messaging gatekeepers - and Beeper seems to be eager to capitalize on its opportunity of being at the right place at the right time.
Let’s keep an eye on how this product develops. I see a lot of potential for growth, and I’ll be looking for all the signals of early-exit/lock-in/enshittification.
@fabio Imo, the acquisition of Beeper by Automattic will allow Beeper to operate "independently" while benefiting from the "resources" of Automattic. overall I'm optimistic but the messaging app landscape is dynamic and the success of any acquisition depends on various factors, including user adoption, retention strategies etc.
ÇA Y'EST ! La libération !!!!! #Beeper est en accès libre 😍 😍 😍
C'est vraiment génial comme application on s'en rends pas compte à quel point ça change tout d'un coup d'avoir toutes ses messageries centralisées en 1 seul endroit vraiment GG aux devs !
En plus l'app est open-source et de ce que j'ai vu, relativement transparente avec les données partagées c'est génial d'avoir des projets comme ça ! Attendez-vous à ce que j'en parle pendant des jours 😅
@vintprox we need to make #Linux programs packaged in #Flatpak have a universal alert (which can be disabled) for updates, where if the program has an update, it will give you a button to the Flatpak store (like some android apps).
@HoseanRC It's like "Check for updates" in an application, but natively? I dig that idea.
Doesn't hurt to check system updates, among which our packaged app may take place. But, being bombarded daily with weird ones, I understand why it's easy to skip a new release of your favorite program.
@downey OK, I just checked year later, and at least #Beeper included #Matrix on home page this time, waitlist is gone. I'm not current enough with Beeper's development, so I have to assume it's related to acquirement by #Automattic.
While #Beeper is mentioning #Matrix among the supported chat networks, I don't see it on their "Main Chat App" page that appears after you save recovery code. I don't feel very secure trusting any of the other networks to act as sort of a entry gate, except maybe Signal.
What does picking main chat app even entail, I wonder? 🤔
Nevermind, I'm reminded that #Beeper uses its own #Matrix server and it's basically engrained in the app that none of the outside Matrix accounts can be connected...
If I'm gonna join some Matrix rooms from Beeper, it's only less significant, public rooms that I'm happy to part with any time. That would certainly relief bandwidth that my current homeserver has to experience due to influx of messages in those. Not moving anything strategically important, including DMs.
@tripplehelix I've been using it for almost 3 years, and my experience has been: multiple client rewrites, different features per platform, unsustainable architecture and reliability problems. 3 years in you still can't delete a chat 🤷
I no longer use it for anything critical, because there were just too many times that messages I need to send (or receive) were just stuck in limbo.
But as long as the messages you're sending aren't critical, it's very nice to have all the chats in one place.
@tripplehelix the way the "bridges" currently work is a VM spins up for each bridge, per user, and all incoming network messages are decrypted in the bridge before being re-encrypted to send to your client, so "end-to-end" is not an accurate description. (But they are working on moving more of the bridges to working the way their iMessage (and soon Signal) solution works, where stuff is actually e2e encrypted.)
This means that, for the bulk of services you'd connect to, messages can absolutely be read by Beeper staff, and the massive pile of VMs that enable it often need attention on their end.
~115,000 users, averaging like 4 connected networks means there are 460,000 virtual machines running. Now that it's open to all, the number of VMs will be increasingly unmanageable.