Matrix is the backend to a federated messaging platform, it has a bunch of front ends, but the most popular is Element
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Has a well integrated system for mobile systems | All Metadata is plain text, including reactions |
| supports modern E2E like double ratchet | Can not migrate between home servers easily |
Signal is a messaging app that is designed first for Android, iOS, then their desktop client
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Has a well designed UX | Everything is sent to Signals servers which is mostly on AWS |
| Designed the modern E2E Standard Double Ratchet | Isn't designed for bots/3rd party clients |
| Supports Secure Sender | Desktop client uses the exact same tech as Element, but has much poorer experience |
| All Metadata data other then recipient is encrypted. | Doesn't support markdown |
iMessage is Apple's answer to messaging, it natively supports SMS while also supporting a bunch of more features if both (all if a group chat) use iMessage as its send through apples networks rather then SMS
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Really clean design | Doesn't support emoji reactions, just a select few reactions |
| "Encrypted" | Uses the same key for all messages in a chat |
| Closed Source |
Google has been trying to get everyone to use RCS to replace SMS, its a bit of a shit show tbh
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Supports more rich chat features | Requires Google Play Services |
| Only Google and Samsung have clients | |
| Features are missing on Samsung's client |
Nextcloud is a self hosted cloud storage ecosystem
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Supports Federation/self-hosted infrastructure | Entirely in PHP |
| Supports encrypted file storage | Encrypted files are clunky and slow to upload |
| Supports lots of plugins | Quiet slow, esp on firefox |