Matrix works a little like email, but instantaneous and secure:
You need to register an account at a provider
Whatever your provider is, you can talk to people using other providers
In the same way you can use Outlook or Thunderbird with the same email account, you can use different Matrix apps for the same Matrix account.
Several apps exist, but we’re going to go with Element for the sake of simplicity, as it’s among the most fully-featured Matrix apps on the market.
Once you are more comfortable with the basics and if you want to use another app, head to the clients section of this website.
Is that like a decentralised WhatsApp?
Its more similar to discord.
WhatsApp runs on unfederated XMPP; why not just run your own decentralized XMPP node?
How difficult is that to a complete amateur?
https://joinjabber.org/
It’s a federated communication protocol and open source implementation thereof, including servers and clients.
https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im/
What is it?
Matrix works a little like email, but instantaneous and secure:
You need to register an account at a provider Whatever your provider is, you can talk to people using other providers In the same way you can use Outlook or Thunderbird with the same email account, you can use different Matrix apps for the same Matrix account. Several apps exist, but we’re going to go with Element for the sake of simplicity, as it’s among the most fully-featured Matrix apps on the market.
Once you are more comfortable with the basics and if you want to use another app, head to the clients section of this website.