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Discord Alternatives, Ranked

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Re: Discord Alternatives, Ranked

#71

Post by Mashimo »

Elosha wrote: post #54
thefz wrote: post #23

There is zero chance that the target users for Discord is going to try anything more complicated than Discord, so basically all the entries in this list. I recoil in horror thinking about me explaining Matrix even to the most tech savvy friends I use Discord with and I really really hope people would stop recommending it.

The target user group for Discord actually is children and teens. Look at that UI and how it‘s trying to sell you „swag“. Then, Discord is not uncomplicated. From „Servers“ not being servers, multiple account onboarding levels, to what happens when Discord believes you are a bot or are using a blacklisted IP.

I don't think I'm active on any "server" that is predominately used by Teens.

I believe you underestimate the average age.

Re: Discord Alternatives, Ranked

#72

Post by dns_snek »

ozlikethewizard wrote: post #48
aaravchen wrote: post #16

Ironically, Signal actually ranks a -1 for privacy in this use. Presumably you're already using Signal and getting mainstream contacts to start using it too. You probably have a basic profile that at least includes your real name, and might also have your picture. Maybe you're even one of the 7 people in the world that use the Stories feature in it. Well good news, now all of that is also unconditionally available to…

You can have multiple instances of signal on a mobile device, and you can use VoiP or eSIMs to register. Signal with an online persona revealing no identifying information, registered to a cash purchased eSIM on an ungoogled android is as good as your getting. Why do you think so many jurisdictions are trying to ban both GrapheneOS and Signal.

You can do all of that but you shouldn't have to when using a privacy-focused messenger, and most people won't so they'll be exposed and suffer the consequences if they use Signal expecting a certain level of privacy (and pseudo-anonymity).

It's a terrible anti-feature and the only reason they're not being punished for it is because there aren't many alternatives to pick from.

Re: Discord Alternatives, Ranked

#73

Post by user205738 »

TheChaplain wrote: post #56

What most people here seem to forget, is once a social platform gains traction and especially attention from the main masses, it undoubtedly require checks and balances. Predators, racism, gore, pedophilia, harassment, stalking and so on.. No matter how high you value security, these are matters that hurt real people today. If you attract the mainstream, you must deal with it.

I am in favor of kicking children, teenagers, and people with vulnerable minds and mental illnesses off the Internet.

Then you won't have to make the decisions that most people suffer from.

Re: Discord Alternatives, Ranked

#74

Post by trueno »

koolala wrote: post #26

Zulip actually looks pretty good if they made it a little sexier.

my team tried it for a couple weeks. couldn't stand the threaded "only see what's important" style of chat. it's undoubtedly our least fav part of microsoft teams---the channels and the threads, we all operate in the chat tab and the channels tab has been relegated to announcement posts no one reads. huge shame zulip can't just like... have a toggle for normal chat chronology/presentation. some people have gone way too for trying to efficiency max or "cut out the noise" but chronological chat and a competent search feature will always be the goat.

Re: Discord Alternatives, Ranked

#75

Post by Imustaskforhelp »

Elosha wrote: post #55

One of the main problems in suggesting Discord alternatives is that Discord itself is an amalgamation of several apps. For some a Discord alternative needs to be a voicecall, for others it‘s game streaming, and for others it‘s just a chat, a bulletinboard or newsgroup, while they never used the Voice features.

> We are also currently working on a privacy-focused alternative called Kloak, which is in its very early alpha stage. We would greatly appreciate your feedback on areas for improvement and any expectations you may have for the platform.

Doesn't Matrix essentially satisfy all of them?

Although the bulletinboard/newsgroup feature is something that I don't know but I feel as if that can be on matrix as well.

Yes, I know Matrix is hard to host but I don't imagine discord if they release their source code to be easy either.

So for a discord-like experience, I really prefer matrix.

Re: Discord Alternatives, Ranked

#76

Post by Imustaskforhelp »

shreyaspapi wrote: post #21

Most Discord alternatives fail not on tech, but on polish. Signal → private but bad for communities Matrix → flexible but rough UX XMPP → powerful but fragmented Discord → centralized but frictionless Users pick frictionless every time. We probably don’t need new apps or protocols we need a client that works well.

> Matrix → flexible but rough UX

Matrix's UI/UX is actually really flexible with multiple clients.

You aren't struck with Element, you can even use TUI clients or any clients.

For the web, the one which I really love is cinny.

Cinny is really awesome, its UI/UX is better than discord imo.

I recommend people to check out the matrix ecosystem of clients to see what they like, because I also liked the fractal gnu app & it has tons of clients.

https://cinny.in/

https://matrix.org/ecosystem/clients/

Re: Discord Alternatives, Ranked

#77

Post by dokyun »

Mashimo wrote: post #63
simianparrot wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a feature

I would love to know why it's considered a feature for you. I remember messing with bouncers and reading the backlog from a 3rd party page. Bots that would ping other members when they come online. It was cumbersome.

Saving logs is gross, chats should be ephemeral. In any case there's HistServ and IRCv3 /chathistory nowadays, so if you really want it you can have it.

That all the minute garbage everyone posts is preserved forever in an unfiltered state I think is a root cause of the mental degradation that results from using Discord: kids don't have anywhere to 'post into the void' anymore. Preserving past events and relationships through oral history as opposed to a big monolithic search engine entails a far more human element to IRC.

Re: Discord Alternatives, Ranked

#79

Post by OJFord »

ozlikethewizard wrote: post #48
aaravchen wrote: post #16

Ironically, Signal actually ranks a -1 for privacy in this use. Presumably you're already using Signal and getting mainstream contacts to start using it too. You probably have a basic profile that at least includes your real name, and might also have your picture. Maybe you're even one of the 7 people in the world that use the Stories feature in it. Well good news, now all of that is also unconditionally available to…

You can have multiple instances of signal on a mobile device, and you can use VoiP or eSIMs to register. Signal with an online persona revealing no identifying information, registered to a cash purchased eSIM on an ungoogled android is as good as your getting. Why do you think so many jurisdictions are trying to ban both GrapheneOS and Signal.

That's privacy for someone who cares deeply and will get it somehow no matter what, not default zero-effort privacy for the ignorant. (Which WhatsApp does pretty well for example.)

Re: Discord Alternatives, Ranked

#80

Post by Semaphor »

fishgoesblub wrote: post #9
MarsIronPI wrote: post #5

I'm sad to see XMPP missing from this list. I wonder if the author was simply unaware of it or simply ignored it. IMO XMPP is technically superior to Matrix. It "only" needs a cross-platform high-quality, branded app àla Element. There's underlying protocol support for all the features: video/audio calls, group calls, threads and reactions. Maybe missing are custom emoji (I think?) and channel grouping (which is stil…

Same here, I was hoping to see it listed in the article. XMPP is close to being right there in being able to compete with Discord. It just needs a good client with Spaces support (XEP-0503), along side user roles with permissions, and server side voice channels.

> It just needs a good client

Generally an XMPP issue :/

The protocol is amazing and selfhostable servers (I use prosody) are great. But The only client I enjoy is conversations, and that’s mobile while my main usage is always desktop. There are decent clients, but none I’d say are great.

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