Element (formerly Riot and Vector) is a

free and open-source software Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...

instant messaging client implementing the Matrix protocol. Element supports end-to-end encryption, groups and sharing of files between users. It is available as a web application, as desktop apps for all major operating systems and as a mobile app for

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

and iOS.

History

Element was originally known as Vector when it was released from

beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labiod ...

in 2016. The app was renamed to Riot in September of the same year. Riot

In 2016 the first implementation of the Matrix end-to-end encryption was implemented and rolled out as a beta to users. In May 2020, the developers announced enabling end-to-end encryption by default in Riot for new non-public conversations. In April 2019, a new application was released on the Google Play Store in response to cryptographic keys used to sign the Riot Android app being compromised. In July 2020, Riot was renamed to Element. In January 2021, Element was briefly suspended from Google Play Store in response to a report of user-submitted abusive content on Element's default server, matrix.org. Element staff rectified the issue and the app was brought back to the Play Store.

Technology

Element is built with the Matrix React SDK, which is a

React REACT or React may refer to: Science and technology *REACT (telescope), a telescope at Fenton Hill Observatory, New Mexico, US Computing * React (JavaScript library) , a JavaScript library for building user interfaces, from Facebook ** React Nati ...

-based software development kit to ease the development of

Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** ''The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchis ...

clients. Element is reliant on web technologies and uses Electron for bundling the app for Windows, macOS and Linux. The Android and iOS clients are developed and distributed with their respective platform tools. On Android the app is available both in the Google Play Store and the free-software only F-Droid Archives, with minor modifications. For instance, the F-Droid version does not contain the proprietary Google Cloud Messaging plug-in.

Features

Element is able to bridge other communications into the app via Matrix, including IRC,

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, Telegram,

Jitsi Meet Jitsi is a collection of free and open-source multiplatform voice (VoIP), video conferencing and instant messaging applications for the web platform, Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS and Android. The Jitsi project began with the Jitsi Desktop (previous ...

and others. Also, it integrates voice and video peer-to-peer and group chats via WebRTC. Element supports end-to-end encryption (E2EE) of both one-to-one and group chats.

Reception

Media compared Element to

, WhatsApp and other instant messaging clients. In 2017, German computer magazine

Golem.de Computec Media GmbH is a German computer media company headquartered in Fürth. It is a subsidiary of the Swiss Marquard Media Group. The company publishes multiple magazines and websites related to computers, video gaming and media. History Co ...

called Element (then Riot) and Matrix server "mature" and "feature-rich", but criticized its key authentication at the time to be not user-friendly for communicatees owning multiple devices. A co-founder of the project, Matthew Hodgson, assured the key verification process was a "placeholder" solution to work on. In 2020, Element added key cross-signing to make the verification process simpler, and enabled end-to-end encryption by default.

References

External links