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Telegram starts to look like a super app, echoing WeChat
(techcrunch.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
@photonic_sorcerer What do you suggest as an alternative?
We have chat standard called XMPP created by literially the same org that makes standards for Internet and Email.
And there are other public protocols to choose from.
Unfortunately XMPP died roughly when the mobile devices became a mainstay. The way Google de facto took over the protocol didn't help either, but even without it XMPP isn't fit for the mobile-first world. The client needs to maintain an active connection at all times and there is nothing akin to push messaging, causing quite a significant battery drain. I might be unaware of some progress in this regard but this is how I remember it.
"The client needs to maintain an active connection at all times" is just plain wrong. Offline messaging is what makes it so much more fit for the masses compared to IRC (I adore IRC btw).
I don't mean offline messaging with messages waiting for the user to go online. I mean the lack of push messaging capabilities, so the user/client doesn't know there is a message waiting until they already go "fully" online.
Signal
Signal for private conversations and for larger groups Matrix. Matrix can also be bridged to telegram effortlessly.