a new significant release — a messenger that uses email as a transport instead of its own servers (chat-over-email, a specialized email client working as a messenger). The application code is built on the Electron platform and is licensed under GPLv3, while the core library is available under MPL 2.0 (Mozilla Public License).
In the new release:
- A database of providers and email services with information on standard settings;
- New keyboard shortcuts ‘Ctrl + K’ for searching the address book and ‘Alt + ←↓↑→’ for navigating in chat;
- A new set of background images;
- The ability to bind images to the profile;
- Support for using multiple accounts simultaneously;
- The ability to view images in full screen;
- A separate chat for saved messages;
- Support for changing font size and zoom level (View -> Zoom Factor);
- Using the group name in the subject field of the email;
- The ability to write multi-line messages and the ‘Show classic emails’ setting that allows using Delta Chat as a traditional email client.
It's worth noting that Delta Chat does not use its own servers and can work with almost any email server that supports SMTP and IMAP (for quick notification of new messages, it employs the ). Encryption is supported using OpenPGP and the standard for simple automatic configuration and key exchange without using key servers (the key is automatically sent in the first message). The implementation of end-to-end encryption is based on the code , which underwent an independent security audit this year. Traffic is encrypted using TLS in standard system library implementations.
Delta Chat is fully controlled by the user and is not tied to centralized services. No registration with new services is required — an existing email can be used as an identifier. If a correspondent does not use Delta Chat, they can read the message as a regular letter. Spam is mitigated by filtering out messages from unknown users (by default, only messages from users in the address book and those to whom messages have previously been sent are displayed, as well as responses to one's own messages). Attachments and attached images and videos can be displayed.
Group chats are supported, allowing multiple participants to communicate. There is an option to tie a verifiable list of participants to the group, which prevents messages from being read by outsiders (participant verification is conducted via cryptographic signature, and messages are encrypted using end-to-end encryption). Joining verified groups is done through an invitation sent with a QR code. Verified chats currently have the status of an experimental feature, but support for them is planned to be stabilized in 2020 after the security audit is completed.
The core of the messenger is being developed separately as a library and can be used to write new clients and bots. The current version of the core library is written in Rust (the old version in C). There are bindings available for Python, Node.js, and Java. In there are unofficial bindings for Go. DeltaChat for libpurple, which can use both the new Rust core and the old C core.
Source: opennet.ru
