3 ms·

Except RCS doesn't work on anything except phones, while XMPP works perfectly fine everywhere. IM was vastly better on computers back when you could use applica

Except RCS doesn't work on anything except phones, while XMPP works perfectly fine everywhere. IM was vastly better on computers back when you could use applications like pidgin or kopete.

dgellow 1y ago
The time when XMPP was supported by google (and Facebook IIRC?). Running jabber for small groups was pretty simple, and you had Adium and pidgin, both were simple to use and just neat software
- MiddleEndian 1y ago
  Adium was by far the best messaging experience I've ever had. It was good looking, fast, customizable, and super well-intgrated into OS X.
  - dgellow 1y ago
    Interesting, you’re right, I forgot how customizable Adium was! That’s something that has been completely lost in modern chat software :(
int_19h 1y ago
The problem is mobile, and specifically the need for push notifications to have reasonable battery life. The traditional model that desktop IM clients use, where they have a permanent connection to the server, is not viable on mobile. But push notifications require you to design your protocol around them and lock you into the corresponding provider (i.e. Google or Apple, depending on the platform).
- ndriscoll 1y ago
  I'm not familiar with real world home firewall behavior, but shouldn't you be able to leave a TCP connection open/idle with no keepalive for minutes if not hours? I'm skeptical of the battery life argument around notification lockin, particularly when I see how much Android devices light up a pihole.
  - int_19h 1y ago
    I don't claim to understand the specifics, but I was a heavy user of custom XMPP clients on early Android phones, and they did require a persistent notification to keep the app (and thus the connection) alive, which did translate to measurable battery impact. My understanding is that the built-in notification manager helps with this by multiplexing and batching everything.

Except RCS doesn't work on anything except phones, while XMPP works perfectly fine everywhere. IM was vastly better on computers back when you could use applications like pidgin or kopete.

dgellow 1y ago

The time when XMPP was supported by google (and Facebook IIRC?). Running jabber for small groups was pretty simple, and you had Adium and pidgin, both were simple to use and just neat software

MiddleEndian 1y ago
Adium was by far the best messaging experience I've ever had. It was good looking, fast, customizable, and super well-intgrated into OS X.
- dgellow 1y ago
  Interesting, you’re right, I forgot how customizable Adium was! That’s something that has been completely lost in modern chat software :(

int_19h 1y ago

The problem is mobile, and specifically the need for push notifications to have reasonable battery life. The traditional model that desktop IM clients use, where they have a permanent connection to the server, is not viable on mobile. But push notifications require you to design your protocol around them and lock you into the corresponding provider (i.e. Google or Apple, depending on the platform).

ndriscoll 1y ago
I'm not familiar with real world home firewall behavior, but shouldn't you be able to leave a TCP connection open/idle with no keepalive for minutes if not hours? I'm skeptical of the battery life argument around notification lockin, particularly when I see how much Android devices light up a pihole.
- int_19h 1y ago
  I don't claim to understand the specifics, but I was a heavy user of custom XMPP clients on early Android phones, and they did require a persistent notification to keep the app (and thus the connection) alive, which did translate to measurable battery impact. My understanding is that the built-in notification manager helps with this by multiplexing and batching everything.