The constant rebranding and confusion over Matrix/Vector/Riot/Element is another point of pain for me. It’s incredibly difficult to communicate unambiguously about Matrix with people who haven’t been following it for years.

Does Element refer to the ecosystem as a whole, including EMS? The primary client? The core federation? It’s not obvious from a casual visit to element.io. I suppose if I said “Element web app,” that would be fairly clear, but I’m still in the habit of saying “Vector” from the days of Riot.

Everything related to the company formerly known as New Vector is now called Element. The company is Element, the official clients are called Element (with suffixes Web, Desktop, Android, iOS) and yes, EMS is Element Matrix Services. This rebranding was done specifically due to the confusion brought on by the many previous names. More info here: https://element.io/previously-riot

The protocol is still called Matrix.

Yes, I actually like the change—I think they finally got it right this time. (The Riot rebranding was a mess.) However, it’s still frustrating when trying to communicate with people who aren’t following Matrix-related news. In my circle of friends, “Vector” remains more widely understood than “Element Web,” so that’s what I’ve been using.

Anyway, my point stands: Element Web/Desktop feels fairly unresponsive compared to something like Telegram Desktop. It looks so much nicer now, the UI layout is great, and it’s far more powerful than Telegram—yet, I can’t help but feel like I’m swimming through molasses even when dealing with moderately-sized groups. Try clicking around on different groups rapidly; you’ll likely find that you have to wait several seconds for the UI to update.