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Conversations is on F-Droid so there is no reason to get it from the Play store. This goes for all free software apps, get them from F-Droid or similar free sof

Conversations is on F-Droid so there is no reason to get it from the Play store. This goes for all free software apps, get them from F-Droid or similar free software repos and free yourself from the manipulations by the likes of Google/Apple/Microsoft/Amazon/etc. Yes, I understand this limits the reach to those who know about F-Droid (et al) but given the way XMPP has been pushed out by the aforementioned corporate entities it is likely that those who use XMPP already know about and use F-Droid.

MattJ100 3y ago
The Conversations developer also highlighted that a significant portion of his income comes from Play store. So a reminder that F-Droid features donation links on app listings that support it (including Conversations), allowing you to discover how to donate directly to the developer (no percentage fee is taken by Google that way, too).
zaik 3y ago
I have my whole family on XMPP, most of them do not know about F-Droid.
- the_third_wave 3y ago
  Tell them about F-Droid then. Tell them they can find a bunch of apps which are less likely to sell their soul to the highest bidder. I did tell mine, all of them installed F-Droid - it is just another app after all - and most use a number of apps from there, things like Nextcloud and DavX and, yes, Conversations.
arendtio 3y ago
I am not entirely sure, but I believe the F-Droid version uses a different push technology, which can lead to slightly different app behavior/compatibility/battery usage. I used it for some years, but I switched to the Play Store version at some point. Maybe someone else remembers better?
- the_third_wave 3y ago
  Never having used the version on the play store I can not compare the two but I know the version on F-Droid works fine with messages arriving in time. Battery usage is minimal, under 1% with regular usage. There is a an extensive comparison of power consumption by messaging apps out there somewhere on the 'net but I can not find it at the moment. In that test Conversations ended up as the 'best' (using the least amount of power) while Skype and Facebook Messenger ended up worst if I'm not mistaken.

MattJ100 3y ago

The Conversations developer also highlighted that a significant portion of his income comes from Play store. So a reminder that F-Droid features donation links on app listings that support it (including Conversations), allowing you to discover how to donate directly to the developer (no percentage fee is taken by Google that way, too).

zaik 3y ago

I have my whole family on XMPP, most of them do not know about F-Droid.

the_third_wave 3y ago
Tell them about F-Droid then. Tell them they can find a bunch of apps which are less likely to sell their soul to the highest bidder. I did tell mine, all of them installed F-Droid - it is just another app after all - and most use a number of apps from there, things like Nextcloud and DavX and, yes, Conversations.

arendtio 3y ago

I am not entirely sure, but I believe the F-Droid version uses a different push technology, which can lead to slightly different app behavior/compatibility/battery usage. I used it for some years, but I switched to the Play Store version at some point. Maybe someone else remembers better?

the_third_wave 3y ago
Never having used the version on the play store I can not compare the two but I know the version on F-Droid works fine with messages arriving in time. Battery usage is minimal, under 1% with regular usage. There is a an extensive comparison of power consumption by messaging apps out there somewhere on the 'net but I can not find it at the moment. In that test Conversations ended up as the 'best' (using the least amount of power) while Skype and Facebook Messenger ended up worst if I'm not mistaken.