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Automattic invests in Matrix

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Re: Automattic invests in Matrix

#2
Good news!

Now if only they can figure out how to make Riot usable with Encryption enabled without pulling your hair out every time you enter a room or chat with non-matching keys.

While Riot has a lot of features, it is also not easy for new users.

I've tried to convert at least 10 persons and none of them use it any more, citing not being able to figure out how to use it or simply not having the time to waste figuring it out.

It needs to be intuitive out of the box, how to contact people, how to find a room, how to chat.

Re: Automattic invests in Matrix

#3
post #2

Good news! Now if only they can figure out how to make Riot usable with Encryption enabled without pulling your hair out every time you enter a room or chat with non-matching keys. While Riot has a lot of features, it is also not easy for new users. I've tried to convert at least 10 persons and none of them use it any more, citing not being able to figure out how to use it or simply not having the time to waste figur…

They've been working on that for quite a while and just had a major update to Riot (Web/X on Android/iOS) -- E2EE is now on by default. Have you tried the latest version? Most of the issues with key verification have been resolved (and now having users you haven't verified isn't as big of a scary warning as it was in the past -- in fact, I believe the default is that there isn't a warning unless there is a device present which a verified user hasn't signed). Also now there are per-account identities which are used to sign devices (the ever-elusive "cross-signing" feature), so you only need to verify a user once.

Re: Automattic invests in Matrix

#4
post #2

Good news! Now if only they can figure out how to make Riot usable with Encryption enabled without pulling your hair out every time you enter a room or chat with non-matching keys. While Riot has a lot of features, it is also not easy for new users. I've tried to convert at least 10 persons and none of them use it any more, citing not being able to figure out how to use it or simply not having the time to waste figur…

Have you tried since we relaunched encryption and turned it on by default 2 weeks ago? The UX has completely been rewritten and it should now be transparent - see https://blog.riot.im/e2e-encryption-by-default-cross-signing....

edit: To be clear, we no longer nag whenever there's an unverified login present - and unverified logins should increasingly be a thing of the past anyway given we now have cross-signing and so let users verify their own sessions at login.

Re: Automattic invests in Matrix

#5
Has this ever worked out?

1: A new technology is being worked on by enthusiasts. Nobody knows if it will get mainstream traction or not.

2: A company puts in a siginificant amount of money to accelerate development and marketing.

3: The new technology gains mainstream traction.

Two examples I can think of for point 1 are Linux and PHP. I think both grew without money coming in, right?

Re: Automattic invests in Matrix

#6
post #2

Good news! Now if only they can figure out how to make Riot usable with Encryption enabled without pulling your hair out every time you enter a room or chat with non-matching keys. While Riot has a lot of features, it is also not easy for new users. I've tried to convert at least 10 persons and none of them use it any more, citing not being able to figure out how to use it or simply not having the time to waste figur…

No offense, but this comment is outdated since the recent UX overhaul. You should check it out sometime.

Re: Automattic invests in Matrix

#7
post #4
post #2

Good news! Now if only they can figure out how to make Riot usable with Encryption enabled without pulling your hair out every time you enter a room or chat with non-matching keys. While Riot has a lot of features, it is also not easy for new users. I've tried to convert at least 10 persons and none of them use it any more, citing not being able to figure out how to use it or simply not having the time to waste figur…

Have you tried since we relaunched encryption and turned it on by default 2 weeks ago? The UX has completely been rewritten and it should now be transparent - see https://blog.riot.im/e2e-encryption-by-default-cross-signing... . edit: To be clear, we no longer nag whenever there's an unverified login present - and unverified logins should increasingly be a thing of the past anyway given we now have cross-signing and…

I have and it's now at the point where I can recommend it to my family :) (with e2e, the UX otherwise I found fine)

edit: also, congratulations, really hope matrix can get the market share it deserves

Re: Automattic invests in Matrix

#8
post #4
post #2

Good news! Now if only they can figure out how to make Riot usable with Encryption enabled without pulling your hair out every time you enter a room or chat with non-matching keys. While Riot has a lot of features, it is also not easy for new users. I've tried to convert at least 10 persons and none of them use it any more, citing not being able to figure out how to use it or simply not having the time to waste figur…

Have you tried since we relaunched encryption and turned it on by default 2 weeks ago? The UX has completely been rewritten and it should now be transparent - see https://blog.riot.im/e2e-encryption-by-default-cross-signing... . edit: To be clear, we no longer nag whenever there's an unverified login present - and unverified logins should increasingly be a thing of the past anyway given we now have cross-signing and…

Wait... Naive question: shouldn't you, especially in this case, still nag the account owner about his own unverified sessions? What if a bad-actor homeserver slides in a new session to snoop around?

BTW: I absolutely love the cross-signing move and riot/matrix in general! :) Thanks for your great work on this!

Re: Automattic invests in Matrix

#9
post #4
post #2

Good news! Now if only they can figure out how to make Riot usable with Encryption enabled without pulling your hair out every time you enter a room or chat with non-matching keys. While Riot has a lot of features, it is also not easy for new users. I've tried to convert at least 10 persons and none of them use it any more, citing not being able to figure out how to use it or simply not having the time to waste figur…

Have you tried since we relaunched encryption and turned it on by default 2 weeks ago? The UX has completely been rewritten and it should now be transparent - see https://blog.riot.im/e2e-encryption-by-default-cross-signing... . edit: To be clear, we no longer nag whenever there's an unverified login present - and unverified logins should increasingly be a thing of the past anyway given we now have cross-signing and…

Can I bump two phones together to exchange keys (using NFC or similar)? That would be the killer feature for us when we do conferences - perhaps more relevant to the Before Covid times of course.

Re: Automattic invests in Matrix

#10
post #5

Has this ever worked out? 1: A new technology is being worked on by enthusiasts. Nobody knows if it will get mainstream traction or not. 2: A company puts in a siginificant amount of money to accelerate development and marketing. 3: The new technology gains mainstream traction. Two examples I can think of for point 1 are Linux and PHP. I think both grew without money coming in, right?

I think you could argue that the is the story of many popular open source projects that were developed first by employees of large companies: React, Go, JavaScript, TensorFlow come to mind.
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