The conversation

crossroadsguyHNSource author
Lessons learnedExperience excerpt · English

Reason? It is still "work" to even try to start using Matrix and yes I tried the …

… Reason? It is still "work" to even try to start using Matrix and yes I tried the kicks-ass-new-swift-client and it seems to be just another dull almost useless iOS messaging app which was done as a proof of concept of an open source project with very high values and goals and completely missing the point of usability and what people need and where smartphone messaging is today. Also by the way - how many has it been? Matrix -> Riot -> Element.. is it changing again now? > 80% of the people who say "Matrix sucks" are actually talking about bad experiences on the old Element mobile apps Maybe 100% of times you are missing the point why people think that way by just assuming this? > self-hosted, decentralised WhatsApp and Teams replacement for governments Well, I do hope you realise that "Govt as the entity" per se that would not use these apps - but "the people" (which actually kinda comes back to you, I, and our friends) in those governments will use those apps and services. Anyway, good luck.

Original discussionMatrix v1.15124 source comments · at import
2

What was this responding to?

Parent context · original excerpt

AR
ArathornHN

One of the big problems is that folks judge Matrix based on the legacy Element apps, which have now been succeeded by Element X: https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-... etc. Element X kicks ass, in my (very biased) opinion: it's a super-speedy Rust core with fancy SwiftUI and Compose native UI layered on top. It radically outperforms any other encrypted messenger i've used in terms of UI perf and usability. However, because it's a rewrite, it doesn't quite have feature parity with the old apps, which are now over 10 years old: Threads is in beta; Spaces haven't landed yet, and Widgets aren't implemented yet. Therefore, we have to keep the old app around for users/customers who depend on those. As a result, >80% of the people who say "Matrix sucks" are actually talking about bad experiences on the old Element mobile apps - rather than better client Element X or ind…

Full original

Community replies 0

No community replies yet. Add your perspective.

Replies from the source 2

Direct replies available in this import. Original-language excerpts.

FL
florenHN

> Maybe 100% of times you are missing the point why people think that way by just assuming this? "Am I so out of touch? No, it's the users who are wrong"

Full original
AR
ArathornHN

> I finally gave up on it realising it is (and now it seems was never even planned to be) a communication tool for the "masses" or end users - you know - you, I and our friends and family... kind of. Matrix has always intended to provide communication for the masses. You can see this from day 1 here: https://matrix.org/blog/2014/09/03/hello-world . You can see it in the Matrix Foundation's manifesto & mission here: https://matrix.org/foundation/about . You can see this in my "Road to mainstream Matrix" FOSDEM mainstage talk this year: https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-6274-the-... . However, we have to fund our work on this, and the Matrix team at Element do so right now by building digitally-sovereign comms apps for governments. The reason is that generating funding out of mainstream consumer messaging apps is very hard when you are competing against 'free' (WhatsApp, i…

Full original
Continue on Hacker News

Respect different perspectives. Share concrete experiences.

Sign in to post, reply, repost, and quote.