this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
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cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/40286422

Is UX/UI and marketing really the reason XMPP lags behind Signal/Matrix/Telegram?

Matrix is going Freemium and WhatsApp is adding ads, which is sparking the annual "time to leave [app]" threads.

Users don't care that much about privacy, but they do care about enshittification, so XMPP not being built for it shouldn't be a problem.

Meanwhile, I've heard for years that XMPP has solved a lot of the problems that lead more popular apps to fail.

Is it really just a marketing/UX/UI problem?

If XMPP had a killer app with all the features that Signal/Whatsapp/Telegram has, would it have as many users?

If not, why does it keep getting out-adopted by new apps and protocols?

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[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 20 hours ago

I never really did very much with IRC on a protocol level. I just know that it's ultra simple, and suffers similar problems as xmpp: it's not really meant for multidevices with a shared backlog.

I'm sure there are projects to enhance IRC with proper e2e encryption and chat sync, but you really want something that has modern usage in mind from the ground up. IRC and xmpp are just very 90s.

note: it's now been a couple years since I last took a deeper dive into xmpp and matrix, so things might have changed. But especially for xmpp, I can't really see how without breaking compatibility. The protocol is just very... special in its own way