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Re:Egypt has blocked encrypted messaging app Signal by upofadown on Tuesday December 20, 2016 @09:19AM (#13219960)
XMPP used to have power consumption issues on mobile because of the constant TCP connection from the client to the server. There were also problems with network disconnections/changes on mobile for the same reason. XMPP uses TLS certificates for client to client and server to server connections and such things used to be a pain before Let's Encrypt for those hoping to run their own servers. The end to end encryption used to be OTR which tended to be a bit clunky to use in practice.

That was then. Those issues have been more or less fixed these days. XMPP is actually starting to look interesting again. For an example of a modern XMPP client (and discussion about the issues mentioned above) see here:

* https://conversations.im

Re:Egypt has blocked encrypted messaging app Signal by frandroid on Tuesday December 20, 2016 @11:32AM (#13221314)
> A free and open source Jabber/XMPP client for Android.

"Free" for CDN$2.89! Not that I care about the $3, but which is it, guys?

Re:Egypt has blocked encrypted messaging app Signal by vog on Tuesday December 20, 2016 @11:37AM (#13221362)
They only want money for providing the build. The source code and build scripts are free/libre.

From the website:

  How do I install Conversations?

  Conversations is entirely open source and licensed under GPLv3. So if you are
  a software developer, you can check out the sources from GitHub and use gradle
  to build your APK file.

  The more convenient way — which not only gives you automatic updates but also
  supports the further development of Conversations — is to buy the App in the
  Google Play Store.

  Buying the App from the Play Store will also give you access to our beta test.
Re:Egypt has blocked encrypted messaging app Signal by ryukafalz on Tuesday December 20, 2016 @12:22PM (#13221811)
Re:Egypt has blocked encrypted messaging app Signal by williamscales on Tuesday December 20, 2016 @11:55AM (#13221560)
Free as in speech, not beer.
Re:Egypt has blocked encrypted messaging app Signal by darklajid on Tuesday December 20, 2016 @01:46PM (#13222675)
Both, but not packaged for free in the Play Store. You're supporting the developer by buying it for the equivalent of a beer or a coffee.
Re:Egypt has blocked encrypted messaging app Signal by vog on Tuesday December 20, 2016 @05:27PM (#13224812)
Luckily they also support direct donations via bank transfer (SEPA), so I can give it to them without having the coffee cut by Google or PayPal.