Prav - reclaiming choice of service providers in messaging

Prav is a Free Software app for encrypted messages, files, and audio/video calls. It is inspired by the Quicksy app. The relevant links are at the end of this proposal.

This talk will focus on the importance of federated messaging. An example of federated communication is phone calls which allow you to talk to any user using a SIM card regardless of which provider they use. As an example, Airtel users can make calls to Vodafone users and vice versa.

However, popular messaging apps (WhatsApp, Telegram) only allow you to talk to users using the same app. When WhatsApp changed its privacy policy in 2021 to share its data with Facebook, a lot of users didn't like this move. But the only options users have for such a service is either to uninstall the app or agree to the terms they dislike. The first choice — to uninstall the app — comes at a high cost, as the users lose all their contacts and ability to connect with them.

On the other hand, Prav allows you to talk to all the users on the same network (known as XMPP) even if they use other apps like Quicksy, Monocles Chat, Dino, Gajim, Monal, and many more. This gives users choice of service providers and more control over their messaging platform. If Prav makes a decision in the future that you disagree with, you can switch to any other XMPP provider while still be able to connect with your contacts. It is similar to how people change their SIM provider and still be able to connect with their contacts.

Links:

Official website: https://prav.app

Source code: https://codeberg.org/prav

Prav on F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/app.prav.client

Prav on Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.prav.client