Conversations (Jabber / XMPP)

Review by eFreeware

If you already have a Jabber or XMPP address, or you want your messages to run through a service you choose rather than one run by a large platform, Conversations is the Android client most people in that world end up pointing to. It is a free, open source app by Daniel Gultsch, released back in 2014 and still being updated, with a 4.0 average from 2,573 ratings and more than 100,000 installs. The appeal is not novelty; it is the combination of a familiar chat experience with encryption that is switched on from the start.

What you get is a messaging app that talks to Jabber, XMPP and Snikket servers, covering the ordinary things people expect: images and other files, voice messages, group chats, location sharing and calls. The difference is that it does these things over an open protocol, so your account is portable and your conversations are not locked to a single company. If you have ever wanted the comfort of a normal chat app without handing your contact list to an advertising business, this is the category of tool that delivers it.

The encryption is the starting point, not an extra

Messages are end-to-end encrypted by default, using OMEMO or OpenPGP, and the app does not require a Google account or Firebase Cloud Messaging to push notifications, which matters if you are trying to reduce how much of your messaging passes through Google's infrastructure. The design principles behind the app put security and privacy ahead of convenience where the two conflict.

Calls are encrypted too, using DTLS-SRTP, so audio and video conversations get the same treatment as text. For people who worry about machine-in-the-middle attacks, there is an opt-in channel binding feature that the developer pitches as advanced detection; it is not on by default, so you have to go looking for it if you want that extra layer.

The catch with all of this is that XMPP is a protocol with many optional extensions, and the app relies on your server supporting them. Some features simply will not work on a bare-bones server. The developer's own advice is to open account details, choose Server Info from the overflow menu, and check which extensions your provider has enabled before you assume something is broken.

Group chats, files and the small conveniences

Beyond one-to-one messaging, Conversations handles private group chats and public conferences, with bookmarks so you can find your way back to rooms you use regularly. Admins of public conferences get moderation tools, which is the sort of thing that matters once a room grows beyond a handful of friends. Images and other file types can be sent and received, voice messages are supported, and you can share your location when you need to.

The smaller touches are the ones that make it feel like a modern chat app rather than a protocol demo. There are emoji reactions, read receipts so you can see when a message has been seen, and high-resolution contact photos. Address book integration pulls in the contacts you already have, and if you run more than one XMPP account, they can be combined into a unified inbox instead of forcing you to switch between them.

The interface follows Android's design guidelines, with Material Design 3 and dynamic colors, so it should look at home on a current phone rather than carrying the slightly dated feel that open source clients sometimes have.

Desktop users are covered as well: the app synchronizes with Gajim and Dino, so messages sent from a computer show up on the phone and vice versa. The most recent update added the ability to edit any sent message rather than only the last one, with an edit history, and fixed images not appearing in notifications and some location links rendering incorrectly.

What it costs you

Conversations is free to download. There are no ads and no in-app purchases, so nothing inside the app is trying to sell you anything or interrupt a conversation to show you a banner. That is a straightforward arrangement and it is worth saying plainly, because it is not the norm in the messaging category.

The cost of using it is not money but setup. You need an XMPP account, and the quality of your experience depends on the server behind that account. Choosing a provider that keeps up with the protocol is part of the work, and it is work a mainstream chat app does not ask of you.

There is also the matter of who you can talk to. Conversations connects you to other people on Jabber and XMPP, which is a smaller world than the big consumer messengers. That is the trade-off for an open, federated system: you gain portability and control, and you take on the job of persuading the people you message most to join you there.

How it compares with the alternatives

The obvious comparison is with mainstream messengers, which win on ubiquity. Nearly everyone you know is already on one, they handle group video and stickers without a second thought, and you never have to think about which server extensions are enabled. What they generally do not offer is an account you can move between providers or an open protocol anyone can build a client for. If your priority is reaching the widest possible set of people with the least friction, a mainstream app is the easier answer.

The other comparison is with other XMPP clients. Conversations is one option among several, and its selling points are the defaults: encryption on from the start, a modern Android interface, and a feature set that covers calls, files, groups and reactions rather than stopping at text. Someone who wants a minimal client, or one built around a different set of priorities, has alternatives to weigh. What makes this one notable is how much of the modern chat experience it delivers while staying inside an open protocol.

If you are already running your own XMPP server, or you use one provided by an organization you trust, the calculation changes. The setup cost largely disappears because the account exists, and the app becomes a capable client for a service you already depend on. That is probably the strongest case for it.

A capable client for people who already live on XMPP

Conversations is a well-rounded Android client for Jabber and XMPP, and it is free, with no ads and no purchases to navigate. Encryption is the default rather than a setting you have to find, calls and files are covered, and the interface follows current Android conventions. The developer's stated principles around privacy give it a coherent identity rather than a list of features bolted together.

The people who will get the most from it are those with an existing XMPP account, or those who want their messaging to sit on infrastructure they or someone they trust controls. It also suits anyone who has decided that an open protocol is worth a little setup friction in exchange for not being tied to one company's platform.

If you are starting from nothing and your main concern is that everyone you know is reachable today, the effort of setting up an account and checking your server's extensions is a real cost, and the app cannot remove it. For those already inside the XMPP world, though, this is one of the more complete clients available, and the recent message-editing work shows it is still being looked after.

What's new in version 2.20.2+playstore

• Allow editing of all sent messages; Not just last. Show edit history • Fix images not showing in notification • Fix some geo URIs not rendering correctly