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 agree, we share the same sentiment about it. Unfortunatley I didn’t find anything p2p near as either centralized or decentralized(federated) services are. I do have hope there will be good infrastructure and apps that are fully p2p with no blockchain scams around them in the near future around 5 years.

For now I think xmpp is the way to go. Here you have a list of servers, and there are plenty of clients avaiable. Clients: Web - inverse.chat, movim.eu (conversejs a framework to use xmpp on the web) Desktop - Gajim, Dino, Psi+ Android - Conversations (download from f-droid) <- this one is really good iOS - Monal

Here you have more info. XMPP also has it’s own issues, for example metadata, different servers supporting different stuff, different client supporting different stuff but overall it is in a really usable state and stable. Just pick some servers that are not connected to companies or states.

Also a thing about matrix which is, from what I see, more popular than xmpp, my guess is due to more marketing. In my opinion it shouldn’t be used nor should get any praise from privacy oriented people. Here is a good article going further.

I’d try Tox out also, seems good. And it’s good to use those apps to normalize and boost p2p, by using them we are helping them in the long run. Also Signal is kinda good option, but it is centralized which is it’s biggest flaw. I think Signal did most of the work by popularizing e2e protocol which now everyone use and that they will stagnate in a centralized stage, becoming nearly commercial product.

If you can name alternatives with similar functionality made by people who are not affiliated with crypto, I’m all ears

https://tox.chat/index.html maybe this, didn’t try it, but it says it has audio/video calls and file sharing.

How strict are you on going with full p2p, because xmpp is federated(not p2p) and it has nice network of servers working a long time and ok clients to use, Conversations being the best imo. Some of my friends switched their family and friends to xmpp and complaints at all

Why would you use it anyway ? If you want p2p chat there are options not connected to any blockchain, briar for example.

but if I don’t use it, where’s the harm?

The harm is already made by making this application. By using it you help spread idea that p2p=blockchain/crypto which is not the case. It’s just that cryptobros coopt word “p2p” into their language and supposedly they are p2p.

Same as you don’t have to use their micropayment, there is no reason to use this app also. There are real p2p options, as I said briar for example, or some other p2p chat app without cryptobros bullshit.

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No thank you