The parent company, which develops reference implementations of Matrix components, has also been renamed to New Vector. Element, and the commercial service Modular, providing hosting (SaaS) for Matrix servers, is now Element Matrix Services..
Matrix This is an open protocol for implementing a federated network built on a linear event history. The flagship implementation of this protocol is a messenger that supports VoIP calls and conferences.
Why Element?
Developers report that they primarily wanted to simplify the branding. Inconsistencies in names created confusion, leaving users questioning how 'Riot', 'Vector', and 'Matrix' were related. Now, a clear answer can be given: the Element company develops Matrix client applications and provides Element Matrix Services.
They also explain the symbolism of the name: 'element' is the simplest unit in a system, yet capable of existing on its own. This refers to the intentions of developing Matrix in terms of serverless operation, where clients would interact with each other directly (P2P). Element is just one part of the global Matrix network, which anyone can create elements for.
Unfortunately, there are also more unpleasant reasons that cannot be ignored. The old name 'Riot' was associated by some users with acts of violence, leading certain social groups to outright refuse to use this family of clients. There was also pressure from the corporation Riot Games, creating registration issues for the Riot brand.
In choosing a new name, awareness was present that this is a widely used common word and a mathematical term. Nevertheless, the authors state that they conducted research and believe it has a sufficiently high chance of becoming successful due to its unavailability by other brands. In comparison, searching for 'Riot' is unpromising and leaves much to be desired.
Changes in the ecosystem
Now, all services and projects provided by Element are located on a single site — element.io. In addition to informational unification, the site itself has undergone significant design changes, becoming more user-friendly and simpler for readers.
Perhaps, an equally significant change is the latest redesign of the Element desktop and web client. Users can expect a new default font — Inter, a completely rewritten room list panel, message previews, and sorting settings, new icons, and simplified data management for recovering encryption keys.
Alongside the renaming, the stabilization of RiotX has been announced, which ultimately was supposed to become the regular Riot Android, replacing the outdated implementation, but it has become Element Android. RiotX was an initiative to revamp Riot Android to enhance the user interface, improve performance, and rewrite the source code in Kotlin. The client boasts VoIP support and new functionality, though it has not yet achieved full parity with the previous version.
Introduced the P2P version of the mobile iOS client on the Yggdrasil protocol (a previous experiment was conducted to launch standalone Matrix clients in the browser and Android over the IPFS network).
All the mentioned projects are in the process of deploying versions under the new brand.
Source: linux.org.ru
