A free and open source Jabber / XMPP client for Android. Easy to use, reliable, battery compatible. With built-in support for pictures, group chats and e2e encryption.
Design principles
• Be as beautiful and easy to use as possible without sacrificing security or privacy
• Build on existing and well-established protocols
•Does not require a Google account or specifically Google Cloud Messaging (GCM)
• Require as few authorizations as possible
Characteristics
• End-to-end encryption with OMEMO or OpenPGP
• Encrypted audio and video calls (DLTS-SRTP)
•Sending and receiving images
• Intuitive user interface that follows Android design guidelines
• Photos / Avatars for your contacts
•Synchronization with the desktop client
• Conferences (with support for bookmarks)
• Integration of the address book
•Multiple accounts / unified inbox
• Very low impact on battery life
Conversations makes it very easy to create an account on the conversations.im server. The use of this server is accompanied by an annual fee of 8 euros after a trial period of 6 months. However, Conversations will also work with any other XMPP server. Many XMPP servers are run by volunteers and are free.
XMPP Features
Conversations works with all XMPP servers. However XMPP is an extensible protocol. These extensions are also standardized in the XEPs. Conversations supports a few to improve the overall user experience. Your current XMPP server may not support these extensions. Therefore, to get the most out of Conversations, you should consider upgrading to a
XMPP server that does or – even better – manages your own XMPP server for you and your friends.
These XEPs are – from now on:
• XEP-0065: SOCKS5 Bytestreams (or mod_proxy65). Will be used to transfer files if both parties are behind a firewall (NAT).
• XEP-0163: Personal event protocol for avatars
•XEP-0191: The block command allows you to blacklist spammers or block contacts without removing them from your list.
• XEP-0198: Stream Management allows XMPP to survive small network outages and changes to the underlying TCP connection.
• XEP-0280: Message Carbons which automatically synchronizes the messages you send to your desktop client and thus allows you to switch seamlessly from your mobile client to your desktop client and vice versa during a conversation.
•XEP-0237: Roster Versioning mainly to save bandwidth on bad mobile connections
• XEP-0313: Message Archive Management synchronizes the message history with the server. Find messages sent while Conversations was offline.
• XEP-0352: Client status indication lets the server know whether Conversations is in the background or not. Allows the server to save bandwidth by retaining unimportant packages.
•XEP-0363: HTTP file upload allows you to share files in conferences and with offline contacts. Requires an additional component on your server.
