Signing up for Matrix Chat using Element

Noticed there is basically bug all user guides directed at the layman on the internet regarding signing up for Matrix chat using the Element chat client. Here’s a hastily cobbled together one based off the Android version of the Element App off of Google Play Store. If any other Matrix chat users want to flog this and improve it, by all means, please do so.

This guide is intended to be a very quick and dirty guide for getting prospective users who are interested to have a look at the Federated Matrix chat system signed up and started in the most direct way possible using the default reference matrix.org homeserver instance purely as a starting point only.

More privacy conscious users may wish to use a different homeserver as opposed to using matrix.org’s reference homeserver. This is one of the key benefits of the matrix protocol is that you have a choice of servers in which to establish an account on. Don’t like a particular homeserver (due to their policies)? There are many other homeservers to chose from.

Without further a do.. Steps to get started with Matrix.

Step 01: Open Google Play Sore and search for Matrix. Element Messenger should come up as one the top results… Open the App’s page and click Install. Continue reading “Signing up for Matrix Chat using Element”

Signing up for Matrix Chat using Element

New Zealand Rooms of Matrix/Element.io Chat

Update: 10 April 2022 – This is an old article and has been superseded. Quick and dirty getting started guide for Matrix using the Element.io client can be found here.

Update: 23 July 2020 – Riot.IM is now Element.io

So far the known New Zealand specific chat groups (chat rooms) that exist within the Matrix chat federation include…

If there are others that you know of, feel free to advise me or post in the comments below.

If people are looking for a viable alternative for staying in contact with friends and family at home and abroad as opposed to using the common proprietary messaging systems (e.g. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc) operated by sole corporations. Then I implore people to start looking at the federation of matrix.org chat servers.

If you want to start chatting. Go to Element.io, sign up for a Matrix.org account and start joining rooms such as #nz:matrix.org

Similar to how Email is structured, where Joe Bloggs at Hotmail can seamlessly Email his friend, Max Mustermann at Yahoo without needing to be with the same provider. The Matrix protocol is structured the same way for instant messaging and group chat. No one single company / provider has total control of the protocol.

If Joe Bloggs for example, doesn’t like Hotmail for what ever reason, he is able to choose to sign up to Gmail. Matrix.org is the same way, you have a choice of providers. You can even host your own node (like I do).

Like any project the onset, Matrix was pretty rough around the edges, but I feel the development of the system (being the Matrix Protocol together with the available client software) has now matured to a point where I feel Matrix/Element.io is now certainly very usable.

The reason why I favour Matrix over say Telegram, Signal, Slack, Zulip, Mattermost, Rocket Chat, is that Matrix is the only system where you can…

  • Self host a node of your own AND
  • Send messages to users on other servers (Federation) AND
  • Has a usable front end client (Being Element.io available for Windows, Android, iOS, Linux, and others)

 

New Zealand Rooms of Matrix/Element.io Chat