this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
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Is UX/UI and marketing really the reason XMPP lags behind Signal/Matrix/Telegram? (discuss.privacyguides.net)
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by underline960@sh.itjust.works to c/privacy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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Edit: Matrix isn't going freemium, it's introducing premium accounts to fund the matrix.org homeserver. Thank you for the corrections in the comments.

~~Matrix is going freemium~~ Matrix is introducing premium accounts 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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[–] Ulrich@feddit.org -1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (4 children)

Simply: XMPP is a protocol, and non-tech people don't know "protocols", they know "apps", at best.

They know SMTP, SMS, MMS, etc. (or at least how to use them). That's not the problem.

E: if you reply to this comment without actually reading it, you're going to be blocked.

[–] LWD@lemm.ee 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

deleted by creator

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

They know....how to use them

Read more closelier

[–] LWD@lemm.ee 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I would be surprised if most people had desktop email clients. And of those who do, I imagine most of them didn't even see "SMTP" on the setup screen, or have since forgotten.

Likewise, most people have no idea what the difference is between SMS and MMS, or even why phones will send one type vs the other. Mostly people just complained "my picture won't send" even during the height of the protocols.

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I don't know how to be more clear about this: all I said was that they know how to use them.

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

No, they don't.

Go talk to people, they have no idea what you're talking about.

Non-tech people barely know apps. They use email, or a given messenger. They have no idea the underlying technology - they only think in terms of functionality or use.

SMS/MMS just means "text messaging" to people. They don't know the difference between that and Apple Messages, because they see both as apps.

Hell,most people don't even know which SMS app they use on a daily basis - that's how little they understand the difference between protocol and app (and SMS isn't even really a protocol).

I've been explaining SMS to technical people since 1996, and they often struggled with it.

I've been in Enterprise IT since the 90's, and have friends in the SMB space. In both worlds the user's are clueless about underlying protocols, and only think in terms of the app itself.

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org -2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

They use email

They know....how to use them

Read more closelier

[–] Turret3857 3 points 3 months ago

I have an elderly relative recently ask me why the email on their phone wasn't on their computer.

(it was an SMS.)

[–] MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 months ago

Generally they'll know them as texting and email, they don't know the names of the protocols underneath.