I think last year I did some research in this matter and Element (or Matrix in general) ended up being the only viable solution, but maybe I’m wrong or missing something, hence the question.
Basically, I need a private messenger that I can install and use on multiple devices simultaneously. This includes both desktop and mobile operating systems. I want to use the same account (i.e. no per-device accounts that need to be added to a group chat or similar) and have access to the same message and call history on all of them.
Another important requirement is that I need it to support both texting, and also voice and video calls, all encrypted.
Is there any other messenger than Element that can do it? Of course, I’m talking only about the solutions that are recommended by Privacy Guides .
I think both Session and Element can be used on multiple devices across platforms and are included as “additional options” to the main (more secure) recommended messengers. Security concerns have been raised with both Matrix and Session and it’s unclear which would be preferable.
FWIW Signal should work for most people: You should be able to add up to 5 desktops and iPads as linked devices and Molly allows you to use Androids as linked devices. If you have an iPhone, just be sure to use that as your primary device by registering your Signal account on it. The only time you should run into an issue is if you need to use more than one iPhone or if you use more than 5-6 devices. This setup might increase risk by adding additional parties to trust and potentially lagging a bit behind in updates.
I’d avoid Wire and XMPP if possible, they aren’t recommended due to security issues. If you’re going to use XMPP, be sure to use it in combination with OMEMO and understand its limitations on what it does and doesn’t protect.
I do this with Signal currently, so no Matrix is not the only solution. The only limitation is that only one iPhone can be linked to an account and it must be the primary device. Otherwise, Molly can be used on Android (as a linked secondary device), and Signal Desktop can be used on any other platform.
Thank you very much for all the information and recommendations .
I will keep Session on the backburner then, especially if there is a chance of it being removed from Privacy Guides. I’m no expert in this field, so at least for the time being I would like to stick to the official recommendations only.
When it comes to Signal, I’m honestly not a great fan of it being centred around a mobile device, and requiring a phone number on top of that. In the past, I’ve been in situations, where I (temporarily) lost access to phone numbers of mine, so I prefer a solution that doesn’t have such requirements.
On the other hand, I’d still like to have at least one or two alternatives to Element, just in case something happens and I need to switch to a different private messaging solution right away.
The “remove Session” thread started over a year ago in June 2024 and it was said it’s likely to be removed nearly half a year ago in January 2025. In that time there hasn’t been any progress on removing Session, so for the foreseeable future Session is likely to be the best backup. Threema is another great messenger and is recommended by Techlore, but it’s paid.
I already touched on the security issues with Wire and XMPP but I don’t think the community has scrutinized Keybase yet, which would be worth discussing in its own thread.
It depends (a lot) on your threat model. In my opinion, XMPP can be a good option, though it doesn’t have many advantages, if any, over Matrix. From my experience, the biggest issue with both of them are clients and there differences. And there Matrix may be a better as there are at least two of them (Fluffy Chat & Element X) available on all platforms. But if you are self-hosting, XMPP might be easier and cheaper.
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