cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/47843683
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/47843635
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/47843624
I have been working on an Android App quite a while now, starting from a simple idea.
A messenger where messages travel directly between phones with no servers in between. Using direct WebRTC encrypted connections (SRTP/DTLS), there are no servers that stores, reads, or relays content. Group chats use a gossip protocol where members relay to other members.
The only infrastructure the app touches is a signalling relay to set up the connection (no message content), a push notification to wake up a sleeping phone (also no content), and a TURN relay for restricted networks (encrypted packets only).
I wrote a detailed white paper explaining the full architecture: https://www.mindtheclub.com/white-paper.html
The app is in Open Testing on Google Play (1,000 tester cap): https://www.mindtheclub.com/beta-signup.html
I’m interested in this community's perspective on whether the architecture holds up.
How is it compared to other p2p messaging apps
This is a very open question, there are a lot out there.
In a nutshell, MTC is a balance between standard rich multimedia real-time messaging, including audio/video calls (WhatsApp like), and privacy (full peer-to-peer, no registration, no phone number).
MTC’s target users would be standard messaging app users with some more attention and concern about protecting their private conversations, without giving up all the standard messaging features they’re used to.
Other apps have different balances, (e.g Briar optimizes for metadata-hiding, less rich chat capabilities, Signal requires your phone number to register, etc..).
Thanks for the explanation. Is this app open source?
This is my plan, currently the App is in beta testing, I'm in a phase of trying to find people to stress test it, once the code is properly debugged I will make my GitHub public.
Good to know!