Conversations (Instant Messenger)
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| Basic data
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| Maintainer | Daniel Gultsch |
| developer | Siacs.eu |
| Publishing year | 2014 |
| Current version |
2.8.10 ( August 3, 2020 ) |
| operating system | Android ≥4.4 |
| programming language | Java |
| category | Instant messenger |
| License | GPL ( Free Software ) |
| German speaking | Yes |
| conversations.im | |
Conversations is a free instant messaging - Client for Android . It is largely based on recognized open standards such as the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) and Transport Layer Security (TLS).
The focus of development is on secure communication and implementation of the XMPP extensions that are important for mobile use. The trade press praised the decentralization and openness of the transmission network and simple, intuitive usability with user guidance familiar from other applications. It is recognized as a serious attempt to bring the mass suitability of XMPP-based messaging to a competitive level.
The source code of the program is administered at GitHub and is subject to the conditions of version 3 of the GNU General Public License (GPL). The program can be installed free of charge (or donation-based) using F-Droid or for a fee in the Google Play Store. Google had over 50,000 installs by March 2018.
Functions
Conversations offers natively (i.e. without an additional module) both optional end-to-end encryption ( OpenPGP or OMEMO ) and line encryption ( Transport Layer Security ). The latter must be configured by the servers of the parties involved.
Conversations allows multiple clients / end devices logged on to one account at the same time (through XMPP) and also message delivery to multiple clients (synchronization) using the protocol extension "Message Carbons" (" carbon copies ", XEP-0280).
Files can be sent; also encrypted. Transferred images are shown embedded in the conversation view (picture messages).
As an XMPP client, Conversations offers interoperability with other XMPP (client) software and is not tied to the manufacturer's server infrastructure.
- Group chat (MUC)
- Optional address book integration
- Support for multiple user accounts / addresses
Implemented XEPs
Conversations masters the following XMPP extension protocols (XEP, official extensions of XMPP):
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Quicksy
The Quicksy offshoot also comes from Daniel Gultsch. Users of this client open an account with the host quicksy.im, whereby the user name consists of the phone number . This enables other users of the app to search for contacts via the phone book. This is intended to lower the barrier to entry into the Jabber network. Quicksyn users can also communicate with XMPP users from other hosts.
history
On January 24, 2014, the first code was added to the public repository. The first official version 0.1 was released on March 24th, 2014, when (often only supposedly) “secure” messengers for mobile devices grew in popularity as a result of the Snowden releases (June 2013) and Facebook's purchase of WhatsApp (February 2014). She soon got positive feedback.
The inclusion in Google Play took place in spring 2014 and in the alternative Android software repository F-Droid with version 0.1.3 from April 6, 2014.
Image messages (file transfers, in plain text or OpenPGP-encrypted) have been supported since version 0.2, which appeared on May 12, and OTR-encrypted from version 0.4 (June 30). Version 1.0 followed on February 1, 2015.
In 2015, Andreas Straub took part in the Google Summer of Code for Conversations . This resulted in drafts for a new end-to-end encryption standard ( OMEMO ), which were submitted to the XMPP Standards Foundation (XSF) for standardization.
From version 2.0.0 the possibility of using off-the-record messaging (OTR) for encryption is no longer available . Furthermore, OMEMO is now activated by default in individual chats and private group chats. With version 2.2.0, optional enhancements for recording voice messages and sharing the location in conversations were implemented in May 2018.
With version 2.3.0, support for TLS 1.3 was introduced in September 2018 .
With version 2.8, encrypted audio and video calls were introduced in April 2020.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release 2.8.10 . August 3, 2020 (accessed August 5, 2020).
- ↑ a b Conversation: OpenSource instant messenger in holo design and with end-to-end encryption. In: Android User. Marcel Hilzinger, May 15, 2014, accessed on January 19, 2016 .
- ↑ Conversations (Jabber / XMPP). In: Google Play. Google Inc., accessed March 17, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Daniel Thom: Update on the article: Conversations: New Jabber / XMPP Client for Android. (No longer available online.) In: Netbunker. May 14, 2014, archived from the original on January 21, 2016 ; accessed on January 20, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ https://github.com/siacs/Conversations/blob/master/docs/XEPs.md
- ↑ Quicksy . In: Quicksy . Retrieved December 22, 2019.
- ↑ Hanno Böck: Quicksy: With the telephone number in the Jabber network - Golem.de . November 22, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
- ↑ Daniel Gultsch: inital commit. In: Conversations. GitHub, January 24, 2014, accessed January 19, 2016 .
- ↑ Daniel Gultsch: Release 0.1. In: Conversations. GitHub, March 24, 2014, accessed January 19, 2016 .
- ^ Tilman Frosch, Christian Mainka, Christoph Bader, Florian Bergsma, Jörg Schwenk, Thorsten Holz (Ruhr University Bochum): How Secure is TextSecure? In: Cryptology ePrint Archive . Report 2014, No. 904 , 2014 ( iacr.org [PDF]).
- ↑ David Ehlert: Conversations - WhatsApp Alternative # 9: XMPP in Google Style. (No longer available online.) In: N-Droid Magazine. March 25, 2014, archived from the original on January 19, 2016 ; Retrieved January 19, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ eu.siacs.conversations. In: F-Droid. April 13, 2014, accessed January 19, 2016 .
- ↑ Daniel Gultsch: Changelog. In: Conversations. Retrieved January 20, 2016 .
- ↑ Daniel Gultsch: Release 1.0. In: Conversations. GitHub, February 1, 2015, accessed January 19, 2016 .
- ↑ Summer of Code 2015. In: XMPP Wiki. Retrieved January 19, 2016 .
- ↑ Project details: Axolotl support for conversations. In: Google Summer of Code 2015 site. Retrieved January 19, 2016 .
- ^ Andreas Straub: OMEMO Encryption. (No longer available online.) In: XMPP Standards Foundation website. October 25, 2015, archived from the original on January 29, 2016 ; accessed on January 4, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Daniel Gultsch: OMEMO Encrypted Jingle File Transfer. In: XMPP Standards Foundation website. September 2, 2015, accessed January 4, 2016 .
- ↑ change log for conversations 2.0 beta. Retrieved March 17, 2018 .
- ↑ version bump to 2.2.0-beta + changelog. Retrieved May 12, 2018 .
- ↑ version bump to 2.3.0 + changelog. Retrieved October 5, 2018 .
- ↑ Description of the 2.8.0 release on GitHub. Retrieved May 23, 2020 .
