To be honest, I’m not sure what they were thinking when they released their reverse-engineered iMessage app. But I’m hoping they’re back on two solid feet and will get back to focusing on their original mission because it’ll mean more open source contributions back to the matrix project.

I’m not super excited about them getting bought, but at the same time I think it’s better than the alternative. Beeper’s CEO (now former after being bought) is infamous for creating the startup, Pebble, then running it into the ground by not selling it. As unfortunate as it is, the reality is that companies, even ones based on open source projects, can’t survive without funding.

Using an all-in-one messenger like Beeper will always be less secure than using standalone apps because it can introduce another vector for attack. That being said, I believe Beeper is trying their hardest to stop “middle manning” your messages. For example, in their newest Android client they have an on-device Signal bridge which means your messages never get sent to Beeper’s servers.

Personally, I am happy with the convenience of Beeper. I use it every day with multiple IM services linked and it has saved me a lot of time. I also love that Beeper is built on matrix and that they’re contributing back to the open source community.

If you’re looking to rent a matrix server, I highly recommend etke. Faily cheep for what they offer and great support. As far as your concerns for noise suppression, the best workaround atm is to use Nvidia RTX Voice and AMD’s Noise Suppression features. At least until Element either builds in their AI noise suppression, or adds PTT.

I don’t think that’s a fair comparison. If companies could get away with making a car as unsafe as the model T, you’d probably see quite a few $10k cars on the road. But as it stands today, most cars are required by law to have all sorts of safety features built in.

As our standard of living and safety goes up, so does the price of goods because more is required to go into R&D and manufacturing.