[whispersystems] Native Desktop Client

[Connor Lanigan]

[Johan Wevers]

But as I spread the word among my friends and groups, I saw that many
people would love to use such a system, but they do not have smartphones
to access it.

In that case the browser client isn't going to help here, since it will
be linked with a smartphone (like the WhatsApp browser client). A full
desktop client that could be linked with a dumbphone number would be
nice though.

[Red_Shift]

Hello Connor,

Thank you for taking up the banner for a desktop client; it's something
I'm very interested in and if you need any assistance testing I'm more
than willing to help. I tried to use MightyText in the past but I was
concerned about privacy so I stopped after about a month.

Best wishes,

Brandon

Hi everyone!
In early march this year, while traving through south-east asia, I got to know TextSecure and figured that it could be _that_ sythat would finally end the uncertainties of encrypted messaging. Being both open-source and proven secure, it leaves no doubt that this is the project we all always wanted.
But as I spread the word among my friends and groups, I saw that many people would love to use such a system, but they do not have smartphones to access it.
That's where I realized how I could contribute to this project: providing people with a desktop client seemed just the right thing to do. I started researching and discussing the TextSecure platform, and started development. Now - developing software takes time, and I had and still have other day-filling duties - the new client is growing slowly, but steadily.
I know that in the mean time, the developers of Open Whisper Systems started a client for PC's, which will be installed as an extension in Google's Chrome browser. With myself not being much of a fan of browser extension software, I still think developing this new client is time well spent.
The desktop client is written in Java, which alllows to use it on all operating systems. So far, it supports message decryption and provides a flat-styled graphical user interface.
Note though, and this is very important: at the current time, the client is not ready for use by end-users. This announcement is intended for letting you know about this ongoing development, and if you are not much into programming, you will not be able to make much use of this project at this time. Having said that, anyone interested in this project is very welcome and invited to have a look and participate.
If you are interested in supporting the development, be it by coding, collecting ideas or other activities, you can visit the web page[1] and the Github Repository[2]. To get current news about the development process, have a look at the developer blog[3].
Happy messaging,
Connor Lanigan
[1] https://norvos.de
[2] https://github.com/connorlanigan/norvos
[3] https://blog.norvos.de

[James Firth]

I agree it would be useful to have a non-phone-reliant system for setup
though I'm not sure how it would be implemented.

Just wanted to voice my support for the concept, not sure how available
I'll be to help with development due to work.

Post by Red_Shift
Hello Connor,
Thank you for taking up the banner for a desktop client; it's something
I'm very interested in and if you need any assistance testing I'm more than
willing to help. I tried to use MightyText in the past but I was concerned
about privacy so I stopped after about a month.
Best wishes,
Brandon
Hi everyone!
In early march this year, while traving through south-east asia, I got to
know TextSecure and figured that it could be _that_ sythat would finally
end the uncertainties of encrypted messaging. Being both open-source and
proven secure, it leaves no doubt that this is the project we all always
wanted.
But as I spread the word among my friends and groups, I saw that many
people would love to use such a system, but they do not have smartphones to
access it.
That's where I realized how I could contribute to this project: providing
people with a desktop client seemed just the right thing to do. I started
researching and discussing the TextSecure platform, and started
development. Now – developing software takes time, and I had and still have
other day-filling duties – the new client is growing slowly, but steadily.
I know that in the mean time, the developers of Open Whisper Systems
started a client for PC's, which will be installed as an extension in
Google's Chrome browser. With myself not being much of a fan of browser
extension software, I still think developing this new client is time well
spent.
The desktop client is written in Java, which alllows to use it on all
operating systems. So far, it supports message decryption and provides a
flat-styled graphical user interface.
Note though, and this is very important: at the current time, the client
is not ready for use by end-users. This announcement is intended for
letting you know about this ongoing development, and if you are not much
into programming, you will not be able to make much use of this project at
this time. Having said that, anyone interested in this project is very
welcome and invited to have a look and participate.
If you are interested in supporting the development, be it by coding,
collecting ideas or other activities, you can visit the web page[1] and the
Github Repository[2]. To get current news about the development process,
have a look at the developer blog[3].
Happy messaging,
Connor Lanigan
[1] https://norvos.de
[2] https://github.com/connorlanigan/norvos
[3] https://blog.norvos.de

[Red_Shift]

Actually that was the same issue with MightyText, they occupy the gap
between the POTS network and you rather than your phone being that
location. It raises privacy concerns too, so it would be interesting to
see if a real solution can exist. It's possible to maintain two
databases behind the scenes (your phone and the 'Net connected service)
and merge them but the cost would be time, right?

I agree it would be useful to have a non-phone-reliant system for setup though I'm not sure how it would be implemented.
Just wanted to voice my support for the concept, not sure how available I'll be to help with development due to work.
Hello Connor,
Thank you for taking up the banner for a desktop client; it's something I'm very interested in and if you need any assistance testing I'm more than willing to help. I tried to use MightyText in the past but I was concerned about privacy so I stopped after about a month.
Best wishes,
Brandon
Hi everyone!
In early march this year, while traving through south-east asia, I got to know TextSecure and figured that it could be _that_ sythat would finally end the uncertainties of encrypted messaging. Being both open-source and proven secure, it leaves no doubt that this is the project we all always wanted.
But as I spread the word among my friends and groups, I saw that many people would love to use such a system, but they do not have smartphones to access it.
That's where I realized how I could contribute to this project: providing people with a desktop client seemed just the right thing to do. I started researching and discussing the TextSecure platform, and started development. Now - developing software takes time, and I had and still have other day-filling duties - the new client is growing slowly, but steadily.
I know that in the mean time, the developers of Open Whisper Systems started a client for PC's, which will be installed as an extension in Google's Chrome browser. With myself not being much of a fan of browser extension software, I still think developing this new client is time well spent.
The desktop client is written in Java, which alllows to use it on all operating systems. So far, it supports message decryption and provides a flat-styled graphical user interface.
Note though, and this is very important: at the current time, the client is not ready for use by end-users. This announcement is intended for letting you know about this ongoing development, and if you are not much into programming, you will not be able to make much use of this project at this time. Having said that, anyone interested in this project is very welcome and invited to have a look and participate.
If you are interested in supporting the development, be it by coding, collecting ideas or other activities, you can visit the web page[1] and the Github Repository[2]. To get current news about the development process, have a look at the developer blog[3].
Happy messaging,
Connor Lanigan
[1] https://norvos.de [1]
[2] https://github.com/connorlanigan/norvos [2]
[3] https://blog.norvos.de [3]

Links:
------
[1] https://norvos.de
[2] https://github.com/connorlanigan/norvos
[3] https://blog.norvos.de