Update: I just came across Jami, which actually seems to check all the boxes! Libre, open source, videocalls/conferences, unrestricted traffic/quality, secure, p2p, available on all major platforms, etc etc. Even additional functionality such as recording.

Time to do some testing! Also, thanks for all the info in previous post

I want to communicate with others in a way that is privacy friendly, gives a good user experience and gives me control of my data. Tox seems good, but most of my friends and family have iphones, and none of the clients support that. Today they use Whatsapp, Messenger, etc. Signal would be a big improvement, but as far as I can tell it is still centralized and wants your phone number.

Maybe XMPP can work, I will check that out.

P2P caught my interest because of the possibilities that opens up when you remove the middle-man/server (even better call quality, no file size limits). But it doesn’t have to be P2P - I’m just a fan of “local first”, decentralization and democratization of technology in general.

I already listed my reasons for wanting to try out/use it, and they have nothing to do with crypto or micropayments.

If you can name alternatives with similar functionality made by people who are not affiliated with crypto, I’m all ears. Briar seems great for journalists and activists etc, but it is too limited to be used as a mainstream messenger for keeping in touch with friends and family. Seems like all you can do is send text and emojis, no video chat or photos.

Another interesting option https://holesail.io/

Seems like they’ve got that covered

I’m no crypto fan or plan on using micropayments either, but if I don’t use it, where’s the harm?

So far battery and data usage is ok, but we’ll see after some more testing

I’m testing syncing, notification and battery usage now on a few devices to see how it behaves. So far, so good. It also lets you specify which type of user you are inviting, so that admins does the heavy lifting

My bad, on the Pears homepage it says “Join the open-source P2P revolution”, so I assumed that was the case.

Someone asked the same question in the community group chat. Seems like the UI for Keet is closed atm, the rest is open.