This week in #FDroid (TWIF) is live:

* Basic 2.0-alpha5 with faster UI feedback (no need for Developer mode)
* #keyboard in the news
* #aTalk brings #OMEMO 2 to #XMPP on #Android
* #Briar keeps Tor secure (no tricks)
* #CastLab w/ #FCast and more (no need to restart)
* #K9Mail #Thunderbird w/ avatars (after 7 days too)
* #LabCoat #Gitlab login
* #SessionMessenger help funding
+ 15 new apps
& 212 updates

You can read now: https://f-droid.org/2026/03/19/twif.html

One should not have to wait 24h for #FLOSS apps!

Patience is the key | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

This Week in F-Droid TWIF curated on Thursday, 19 Mar 2026, Week 12 F-Droid core Even if not daring enough to install our latest client in development, we re...

@gnomon consider also #RocketChat and #XMPP+#OMEMO, depending on your needs and workflows.

#IRC obviously runs on every shitbox, so obviously makes sense to take a deeper dive.

@mauve #Bluetooth would make most sense, as even if you were to transfer like vCard files over original Bluetooth speeds (732,2 kbit/s) that would be convenient and fast enough.

vCard - Wikipedia

@TheMorpheus normal.

JEDE Person die sich zur #FDGO und den Werten des #Grundgesetz|es bekennt ist für das #Trump-Regime der #USA ein Staatsfeind!

  • Anders kann Mensch diese shice nicht mehr in Worte fassen ohne Gefahr zu laufen justiziable Äußerungen von sich zu geben.

#USpol #Faschismus #Überwachungsstaat

@TheMorpheus Also letzteres Problem hab ich nicht.

#XMPP+#OMEMO funktioniert, und diverse Clients wie @monocles /#monoclesChat & #gajim machen es einfach.

#Matrix ist in meiner Erfahrung jetzt noch nicht so pralle und nur dann sinnvoll wenn Leute #SelfHosting umsetzen können oder wollen.

  • D.h. in Organisationen und Gruppen sinnvoll, aber für #TechIlliterates wohl kaum!

@andybalaam I disagree, because "truly end-to-end encrypted, decentralized & federated messaging" has been done at leadt trice befire #Matrix came along:

Like I've been in #PGP-encrypted #MailingLists before Matrix and @signalapp were even proposed!

@lackthereof no, it's not because unlike #Phones and #PhoneNumbers, #eMail is not necessarily traceable by circumstances.

  • Because a Phone "Line" (regardless of whether it's POTS, ISDN, VoIP, GSM, VoLTE, …) and #telephony in general are designed for realtime communication, they inherently necessitate an active, ongoing connection.
    • Even if it's just some App/PBX/… to connect to the provider and constantly state "I am on the network and able to recieve calls!" (with PSTN networks, there a physical line that gets assumed to have a phone connected)…

Whereas with eMail (and any #asynchronous #communication) you don't have that requirement.

  • So unless the provider is being taken over or otherwise "cooperative" there's no means for a sender to know where, when and how a message was retrieved unless the recipient wants the sender to know of it!

Or to put it simple:

  • You can ring up someone and thus circumstantially verify the chain of #PhoneNumber -> #IMSI -> #ICCID -> #SIM -> #IMEI -> Device -> Location -> Owner quite quickly.
    • Whereas you can't positively verify whether an eMail address and/or #XMPP+#OMEMO account belongs to me unless I want you to know that it does!

So either way a phone number is just a horrible means of doing that.

  • And don't even get me started on the fact that legally speaking noone truly owns their number.
    • Because even if you got some spechal case number (like UPT was) you still depend on neither regulators nor telcos to not block or otherwise interfere with it. Which is in contrast to say an OnionService which can only be shutdown effectively by sabotage aka. (more or less figurately) "unplugging" it.

I mean, it's not as if I didn't gave @signalapp a fair chance.

  • I wanted #Signal to be good - honestly...
    • But I'm old enough that things rarely are that simple as #TechPopulism & #Propaganda claim it to be.
    • Just like 5th grade #SexEd is not a substitute for Endocrinology, Gynecology and Andrology and actually licensed, medical professionals.

So any #Messenger service that requires a #Phone Number for signup and/or useage is truly not a real replacement and inherently makes PROVEN WRONG assumptions [i.e. that it is legal and possible to obtain a phone number anonymously at someone's juristiction] about it's customers' ability to shield their privacy

THIS is why I am going fucking ballistic on #TechPopulism aiming at #TechIlliterates because it's spreading a "false sense of #security" whilst completely disregarding absolute fundamentals when it comes to the underlying systems.

ProtonMail Sends User IP and Device Info to Swiss Authorities.

YouTube

@lackthereof it's not a "strange complaint", but a massive problem, because it creates dependency on a proven insecure network that is more often than not controlled if not run by hostile actors

  • Also #eMail, like #XMPP+#OMEMO, is based around #OpenStandards so you ain't forced to use any provider that is subject to #CloudAct nor known to snitch on customers without a valid domestic warrant
    • And if you trust noone, you can just host your eMail Server on a Rasberry Pi at home. It'll certainly be less convenient and more expensive but the you also get all the benefits of it being not possible to seize it without breaking into your home.

@signalapp mandating #PhoneNumners is a huge red flag because at best any #PhoneNumber is pseudonymous like a #Shitcoin-Wallet and that any #privacy is broken the moment it has any (even remotely circumstantial) connection to someone.

  • Because even if you ain't forced into #SelfDoxxing to obtain a #Prepaid - #SIM (aka. "#KYC") and/or Phone Number it is still a bad design.
    • Not to mention that this conpletely twarts their "#Metadata - #FUD" completely.

Not to mention #Signal's #App is a huge shitshow

The Lack Thereof :v_bi: (@[email protected])

@[email protected] This has always struck me as the strangest complaint about Signal. You don't need to distribute your phone number to actually communicate with other signal users. Presumably you want some form of 2fa, because losing your account would be bad. And you don't want to be tied to some cloud based email provider. And it's literally a phone app so every single user has the dependency.

beige.party
Recuerden activar #OMEMO y dilucidar el nivel de confianza de sus certificados. #XMPP #ConoDelSilencio #cifrado #chat

@divVerent The problem is that @signalapp mandates #PII like #PhoneNumbers, which is critical for said #phishing...

#Signal can spout all their "#Metadata" - #FUD all day but in the end they fall under #CloudAct and will snitch on users because if they didn't it would've been a statistical inevitability that @Mer__edith and #Moxie would've been in jail and Signal shutdown like #EncroChat was.

  • Make of that what you will, but demanding a #PhoneNumber [which is either directly ("#KYC!") or indirectly / circumstantially linked to a person should be seen as *THE BIGGEST RED FLAG for any service.
    • It's like asking for an #ID at a store not as means to "verify age" with like a #DOB & Photo on something not trivial to forge but rather demanding someone's address just to buy a beer!