Our friend @dansup is working on an exciting new messaging app. He describes it as "an open source WhatsApp for the Fediverse."

https://wedistribute.org/2023/08/sup-by-pixelfed-is-coming/

Sup is a New Messaging App by the Creator of Pixelfed - We Distribute

A brand new messaging app is coming to the Fediverse, and it's all thanks to the creator of Pixelfed.

We Distribute
@wedistribute @dansup Sweet, now I know of both his *and* your projects and can follow you both! Highly excited as to seeing the app. I feel like peppering @dansup with questions, but I’ll restrain myself. 😀
@wedistribute @dansup shouldn't he finish pixelfed first?
@usul @wedistribute @dansup Actually, a common expectation with software development these days is that no application is truly finished. There is always room for further development, new improvements, things like that.

I'm pretty sure that Dan mentioned somewhere that this started out as a messaging app for Pixelfed, but the goal of the project evolved when he realized that it could work for any Fediverse server, not just Pixelfed.
@deadsuperhero @dansup @usul @wedistribute I feel like the #Fediverse should treat private messaging the same way #Usenet did: offload to email, but socially discourage it as bad etiquette. https://bookofadamz.com/the-fediverse-should-avoid-bundling-private-messages-completely-and-implement-this-instead/
The Fediverse should avoid bundling Private Messages completely and implement this instead. - Book of Adam Z

Direct/Private messages should probably not be part of Fediverse servers at all.

Book of Adam Z
@Adam
@usul
@wedistribute Interesting write-up, thank you for sharing!

I'm not sure that I agree, given that the expectation of social applications have changed a lot since the days of Usenet. If anything, I think E2EE ought to be implemented for private messages, but very thoughtfully and very carefully. It may be that the fundamental way that Fediverse platforms handle private messaging needs to change, in terms of encryption, in terms of metadata, and in terms of privacy mechanisms under the hood.

There's been a lot of interesting work in this area that I hope to report on, when I can find the time and energy to do so.
@deadsuperhero Yes, and the expectations of social apps today were driven by greedy abusive corporations, so maybe those need to be revised in the same way #Fediverse is changing expectations of public social media. That being said, email is already the most successful decentralized private messaging protocol ever and it COULD do everything we might want it to (E2EE, moderation, privacy, federation, etc.)
@wedistribute @dansup tbh i had that idea a hour ago, not knowing this post existed

@wedistribute @dansup

Looks cool, but aren't you just reinventing the wheel when Matrix exists which is end to end encrypted? I guess it doesn't hurt to have multiple options.

@wedistribute @dansup but will it compatible with matrix?