It would be nice if I could get SMS 2FA-type notifcations on my desktop without having to use my phone.
I probably wouldn’t use Signal with it, since Beeper’s own page seems to suggest that sending Signal messages with it would be less secure! And, I guess, SMS isn’t secure to begin with . . .
If I download and install Element, and then look at the SMS bridges available on Matrix’s website, the recommended bridge instructions sends me over to Beeper, since I don’t have my own server. Old and confused here . . .
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It’s definitely an option. It will do the things that you want (as long as your phone is online, but that is the same for any other solution).
sending Signal messages with it would be less secure
Yes, this is because Beeper converts the Signal protocol to the Matrix protocol and vice versa. In order to do this it needs to access the messages. So it needs to decrypt the messages, then re-encrypt them on the other side. This means that the bridge (in this case operated by Beeper) has access to your messages. This is often referred to as “end-to-bridge” encryption, as it isn’t end-to-end anymore.
This is going to be true of any bridge you use that is hosted by a third party. You are always adding one additional trusted party into your communication.
the recommended bridge instructions sends me over to Beeper, since I don’t have my own server
Yes, to practically operate a bridge you need your own Matrix server. This is because the bridge will create a new Matrix user for every remote participant (every phone number you communicate with in this case). Doing this with regular mechanisms would be difficult (as signup is likely restricted in some ways) and inefficient (as each account would need to be checked for new messages separately). Beeper runs their own homeserver so that they can operate their bridges. However Beeper’s bridges are only available to users on the same homeserver (this is not a protocol limitation, just their choice). So in order to use their bridges you need to make an account with them (which you can, it is free IIUC). Beeper also offers custom clients which have special features for interacting with their bridges (for example making it easier to start a conversation with a new phone number).
The alternative would be to run your own server and bridge (or hire someone to it on your behalf).
What OS are you using? Microsoft has a proprietary and data-sucking app that can allow you to send messages from desktop. I can understand wanting to avoid using it.
On Linux there’s KDE Connect and a litany of other options as well (KDE Connect breaks a lot in my personal experience, although it has been more stable lately).
Jumping to Beeper for this seems like a bunch of extra steps to mimic things that already exist.
Sorry, on Linux Mint 22.1. I’m not a big fan of KDE stuff in general, since it seems like you have to download tons of other stuff just to use one of their apps, but I suppose I could give it a look . . .
I guess that is one of the issues with reuse of frameworks and things. The first one takes a lot of new stuff. Subsequent KDE software doesn’t
I guess there are pro’s and cons to all things.
There’s also GSconnect, a gnome implementation. There’s also Zorin Connect from Zorin OS.
There is also scrcpy
https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy
Scrcpy literally copies the screen of your android device into a Window on your desktop
Anyway, I found those by searching “kde connect alternatives.”
This is cool! Will try tonight
I’ll take a look at those, thank you. Using one of these is preferable to going the Matrix/Element bridge route, you think? I really like the idea of Matrix, but it was a real pain to get everyone on Signal, and bridging that to Matrix/Element seems kind of complicated and quite possibly less secure (although Signal has its own issues of course) than just using Signal by itself.
Beeper has questionable ownership now, and honestly, I always found their privacy practices questionable at best.
When I was being onboarded for Beeper, when it was still in it’s infancy and they had to walk you through the technical setup via an onboarding video call, I asked what promises they could keep about privacy if the company was sold? I asked because the owner of Beeper was the guy who made the Pebble watch and he sold Pebble and I was wondering if the sale would require the privacy policy to stay the same. I never got a response, and then Migicovsky sold it, like I thought he might.
What actually made me ask the question initially was getting into a recorded onboarding session that I had never been warned would be recorded. The first warning I had that they would record the video-call onboarding session was when I logged into the session. They never thought to warn me ahead of time that my voice and onboarding would be recorded. I bowed out and never signed up for Beeper, especially since they never thought it was worth it to answer my questions about privacy practices after having already disrespected my privacy once. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth about their privacy promises if they couldn’t even bother to warn me ahead of time that an onboarding session would be recorded.
If you were running your own Matrix server and bridge, you at least know what’s happening because you’re fully in control of it. But that can be a lot of work where these options are out of the box working at least.
Was the onboarding process recorded?
I suppose it was for other people. I logged out after I got the warning and never got onboarded. I sent a follow up email with questions about their privacy practices, promises, and what would happen if they sold. I never received a response.
This was early in development, I don’t think they even have to do onboarding now as they’ve got all the technical backend details mostly worked out for end-users. This was very early in their existence.
Erg, after all this fuss, Element is kind of hard to use and not very intuitive 🙁
Yeah as much as the other options aren’t perfect, it’s why I went with KDE connect. 😔
I am in the process of setting up my own Matrix server but it’s my first time using Ansible so who knows how that will go. Ugh.
Yeesh, doesn’t sound too good on their part. An interesting story, thanks for taking the time to write all that. I will now go ahead and cross Beeper off my list.
Wise concern. I never tried Beeper, either, despite becoming eligible from the waitlist.
