this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2025
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Delta Chat: Replacing billionairish platforms with ZIP files (delta.chat)
submitted 2 weeks ago by amzd to c/technology
16 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

[…]

Joined by XMPP-messengers Cheogram and Monocles, and supported by many contributing experts in the background, we are playfully addressing the no-billionaire-platforms challenge with webxdc, a container format and API for “chat-shared web apps”. Technically, webxdc apps are network-sandboxed HTML5 apps and instead of the HTTP protocol they use Peer-to-Peer send/receive APIs implemented by webxdc-capable messengers, rebasing relations between developers and users by saying

  • Bye Bye to surveillance capitalism: Users have both the code and the data of their web apps in their hands and benefit from end-to-end encrypted messaging not only during regular chat messaging but also during their private web app usage.

  • Bye Bye to user policing (logins, passwords, OAUTH, TOS and privacy policies etc.): Web app developers never obtain or touch any user data or user identities, and can have peace of mind of not being responsible for any data, and not having to program identity management and social discovery UIs. Messengers already provide it through arranging chat groups or rooms.

  • Bye Bye to depending on a corp or org that enshittifies: Messengers, as decentralized runners of webxdc apps in chat groups, can not hold web app developers, their users or data hostage. Consult Cory Doctorow’s “Ulysses Pact” for why this is a good idea.

This all sounds too good to be true, right? But what if another reality is possible by just stretching out our hands and grabbing it?

[…]

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

None of this will ever gain any traction ever unless

A) it's as simple to use as the alternatives B) users actually start using it

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

C) it's functionally equivalent to the commercial service

D) influencers who can monetize commercial platforms can also monetize this platform - otherwise the big accounts won't move over, nor will their followers.

Most people use computers as tools, and just want to hang with their friends or get a dopamine hit. Platforms like Mastodon don't quite fit the bill so they fail to gain traction.

[–] amzd 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

big accounts won’t move over, nor will their followers.

This post is about private messaging, not social media.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

The statements about usability and monetization hold true: if the free platform is harder to use, or it breaks business models that attract users then it will fail.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

Platforms like Mastodon don’t quite fit the bill so they fail to gain traction.

They may fail to impress VC, but i wouldn't say they fail to gain traction... especially while commenting in one of them.

[–] amzd -1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

simple to use

  • share a webxdc zip file in your chat
  • ???
  • profit

Not sure how to make that simpler

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

@[email protected] is having a hard time getting it to work. They're probably an average user, so other average users will probably have issues as well.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Already too hard for most people

It has to be dead simple. Whatsapp is dead simple, reliable, and looks nice, which is why everyone and their dog uses it

[–] amzd 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Delta Chat aims for “WhatsApp-level” simplicity and these webxdc zips are just called “apps” when regular users interact with them in the Delta Chat app.

This blog post goes a bit more in-depth on what they are, how they work and how you can build one. Which I thought would be interesting for this Technology forum.