Luckily, it's not like iOS and you can still download an APK or use F-Droid. My impression is that most people who are using these rather obscure communication methods would be able to find the app somewhere else.
Is it really "obscure"?
Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
71–80 of 184 posts
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#72They did the same thing to our messaging app where I work.
Claimed we were uploading contacts and removed our app; we definitely don't upload contacts, that's a fact; the infra is also self-hosted so where would we be uploading them to?
They only way we got them to allow it back was to add a privacy-policy notice to say that we upload contacts and why, despite the fact we actually don't...
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pretty surprising that you can make money off of a free software app like this, I always thought almost nobody would actually pay for it on Google Play store. I hope he can work it out with Google. Conversations is the best Android XMPP client I know of.
I’m using the F-Droid version, but I bought it on Play.
The best method is to install the F-Droid version and donate directly to the developer. Google takes a 30% cut on Play purchases. In the case of Conversations, Daniel has an account on Liberapay: https://liberapay.com/iNPUTmice/
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Conversations has supported Google push notifications since 2016, long before Android started getting more aggressive about battery optimizations. It's been a standard feature of XMPP mobile apps for as long as it's been necessary.
These are surely not purely client-side XMPP... clients, though? In order for you to receive push notifications, some server somewhere is connecting as you in order to relay the messages through GCM.
There is an XMPP standard for asking your own server to send "new message" pings via a GCM proxy. Nothing has to "connect as you".
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Conversations has supported Google push notifications since 2016, long before Android started getting more aggressive about battery optimizations. It's been a standard feature of XMPP mobile apps for as long as it's been necessary.
These are surely not purely client-side XMPP... clients, though? In order for you to receive push notifications, some server somewhere is connecting as you in order to relay the messages through GCM.
No need for a relay. The actual XMPP servers nowadays support GCM natively. The client generates a GCM token and just hands that to the XMPP server. The server doesn't have to send actual message content either, it can just be a "wake up, there's a new message" ping the app can handle specially.
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#76I use an open source SPAM call blocker (Yet another call blocker), which works fairly OK by querying a local spam phone number database. Recently Google Play decided to display a permanent notification prompting me to uninstall that "dangerous" app because it could "damage" my device. It's impossible to disable this notification. This app hasn't been updated in years. It has no ads. The only network request it makes…
This kind of bullshit is why I'm done buying devices I can't root.
I've found that as long as the bootloader can be unlocked and I can install a custom ROM, there's virtually no reason to obtain root. GrapheneOS is good enough on its own that I've had no desire to use root.
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pretty surprising that you can make money off of a free software app like this, I always thought almost nobody would actually pay for it on Google Play store. I hope he can work it out with Google. Conversations is the best Android XMPP client I know of.
I'm using a fork but it is the best XMPP client out there. Even the ones on Linux are riddled with bugs and usability issues.
I heavily use Gajim and it works very well on Linux. I couldn't recall any problems I had recently.
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#78Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
iphone doesn't solve it... XMPP apps on iphone just use a server to be your agent and send push notifications instead.
It solved "delayed notifications" for me, for certain: I still have original Samsung next to iPhone and it's clear as day: - iPhone rings, Samsung nothing - I wait few minutes just to be sure and pick up Samsung - immediately after picking it up the notification shows up, with the exact timestamp of the moment I picked it up That's why I called it a tangent to XMPP
Most android devices do that - sleep-state an application and it won't tell you anything until you actively pick up the device and use it. Been like that since I had my Kyocera DuraForce Pro on Android 6 or 7.
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#80Luckily, it's not like iOS and you can still download an APK or use F-Droid. My impression is that most people who are using these rather obscure communication methods would be able to find the app somewhere else.
F-Droid is a mess too. Apart from the unclear organizational status at this point and the associated drama, they also are super keen on plastering "anti-features" on apps with very vague criteria and no grace period. Organic Maps was for example, first accused of ads whereas it just had clearly communicated referral links to hotels on Kayak, then somebody came up with an idea it promotes non-free network services (i.…
So you're saying it did have ads as described?