What is Simple X Chat?
A new private messenger privacy oriented app that claims to be the first messenger without User ID, which is a novelty
How does it works?
To deliver messages, instead of user IDs used by all other platforms, SimpleX uses temporary anonymous pairwise identifiers of message queues, separate for each of your connections — there are no long term identifiers.
You define which server(s) to use to receive the messages, your contacts — the servers you use to send the messages to them. Every conversation is likely to use two different servers.
This design prevents leaking any users' metadata on the application level. To further improve privacy and protect your IP address you can connect to messaging servers via Tor.
Only client devices store user profiles, contacts and groups; the messages are sent with 2-layer End-to-end encryption.
For more information, here is the white paper^1
Is it ready for mass adoption?
In my opinion, no, currently is perfect for the tech savvy and it has a couple of issues that require attention:
- The battery comsumption is too high, after testing it for two months in high end mobiles the charging cycles per day increased from once a day to twice. For some, this will be a show stopper.
- TOR is not active by default, the user requires the "know how" to use the app with it. Nowadays, when so many applications have already TOR implemented by default in their apps, it is hard to understand why an application that focuses on privacy will not implement this feature seamless in the app. In the past TOR would have caused issues with the voice communication, nowadays, Session App have shown that voice over TOR works with great quality and therefore that argument is no longer valid.
Where can I download it?
- Android: If you are tech savvy and you use Obtainium (no middle man), here the link^2
- iOS: If you are tech savvy and you use testflight, here the link^3
- If you are not tech savvy, you can download the app and install it direcly from the Android Google Play or Apple store
In case you want more information on Obtainium^4
Summary:
SimpleX Chat, it is definitely a step in the right direction. The battery issue needs attention but considering the fact that is well funded, hopefully this will be solved sooner than later. The lack of TOR inbuilt implementation is not a show stopper, but it would be a welcome improvement.
I will suggest you test it and take your time to explain your family members and beloved ones why is important for them to use it. Take your time, help them to install it and configure it, make it easy for them.