The Case for Delta Chat

Use Delta Chat (delta.chat) instead of (or in addition to) other email and messenger solutions.

Go to the website, read about it, and chances are, you will be convinced quickly.

If not, let me elaborate the case for Delta Chat, why it is a better alternative for you.

I am still writing this article, so "to be continued" until I finish, but here are some reasons why you will love it in the order as they jump to my mind:

1. PRIVACY. You can have a private email address to use Delta Chat that respects your privacy. On most mainstream messengers you register your account with your telephone number. As per today, it is nearly impossible to get a SIM card without it being tied to your real-life ID (passport or local ID), which identifies you exactly, linking that SIM card to you. Thus, all communication in the future on that platform will be identified and stored on the provider's server to you without a doubt. The provider will know who you really are IRL (In Real Life), so if they want/need to find you, they will. Also, the provider can and probably will be pressured by all kinds of agencies to reveal your real identity. Do you like it? Then stay on those platform and enjoy the consequences. However, chances are you demand more privacy, and Delta Chat works with either a totally anonymous random email address they give you for free (although with limited storage, so you may opt otherwise), or you could use your own email address. There are many ways to have an email address that is not linked to your real ID, thus using such an address will respect your privacy. Having said that: depending on how you use Delta Chat and what kind of contacts you have, your privacy may be compromised, but at least this is a more private option than conventional messengers.

2. CONTROL. You have total control over your own data on Delta Chat. Delta Chat is free as in "freedom": the engine behind is based on your existing IMAP servers, thus you are practically sending emails in a chat format. Thus you can view it as "email in chat format". The other messenger solutions (some popular ones for instance: Facebook Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, AIM Messenger, Telegram, Viber, Wire, etc etc) normally use a central server which is under THEIR CONTROL (not yours), and all the chats and data are stored there. Thus, if for whatever reason they block your access to it (and it happens, and can happen to anyone, anytime, and it is very cumbersome and difficult to re-gain access), all your chats and data are gone. Not so in emails: those IMAP servers can be under your control. They can also be controlled by other entities (not you), e.g. if you use Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail, or any other "free webmail" solution, but you can use your own email thus re-gain control over your own emails. How to do it? Leave a public note or please at writeme dot email and I will explain. So, the bottom line is: using Delta Chat will give you ultimate freedom to control the communication chain. No moderation, no censorship.

3. ARCHIVES. You can keep all your communication and data forever without limits all to yourself. One needs to be strategic, "going with the flow" is dangerous. Conventional messengers store all your content on their own servers. Imagine that you keep in touch with someone for many years: you would accumulate gigabytes of content. Messages, files, audio and video messages, etc. Most messengers do not let you archive this content to yourself. They keep it for themselves, while you, who should own this data, cannot get to it. Some messengers do let you download your data. The procedure is cumbersome (you need to request it, approve the request, wait 24 hours or more, then spend tens of hours, depending on the speed of your connection, to download your content to your device), and after a long wait you may have a copy of your content, but the server owner also has a copy of it. So much about your privacy... And the cherry on the cake is that when you had enough and would like to unregister or delete your account, once again you cannot do it with the push of a button: you need to request it, let the provider review your request, grant it, and even then it takes many steps and long time before you can get out of their grip. On top of all that: you can never be sure that they do not keep a copy of all your activities on their server. Does it sound like fair game to you? Then stay on those platforms if you like (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp belong to the same owner btw), but using Delta Chat nobody owns your communication data, only you. All your content is on your server, forever accessible to you (depending on your server installation, that is), but the main point is that you remain the owner of your own data.

4. REACH. You can reach everyone with an email address: maximum reach! The main problem with conventional, central server based messengers is that in order to start a communication channel with your family, friends and acquaintances (or strangers), first you "need to be on the same platform". In order to achieve that, either you both need to be registered on the same server ("platform") already and find each other somehow, or if that is not the case, you need to convince your friends to be on the same platform, which is a tall order in a fragmented world where everyone swears by a different "messenger". Imagine that you use the Apple ecosystem and use Facetime, while your friend uses the Android ecosystem and uses Wire, another one uses Snapchat, Instragram, WhatsApp, Viber, etc (the list is long), and you try to communicate. Both of you will need to install and maintain +1 messenger just to be able to communicate. Good luck with that. After awhile people get tired of installing a plethora of messengers only to keep in touch with all their acquaintances. Delta Chat, on the other hand, uses simple and timeless email addresses, thus you can start conversing with anyone who has an email address, and most people still have (and will always have) at least one email address they check daily. You need an email address for virtually anything online these days, so while it is not a legal requirement, it is practically impossible to conduct a modern life without one. Messengers are not so ubiquitous. Thus, you can "chat" with your friends even if they are "not on the same platform", e.g. do not use Delta Chat: they will read your messages as emails and reply to you using their email client software. They can, if they please to, use Delta Chat, just like you, but they are not obliged to. 

Some caveats: it saves all conversations in your phone's internal memory, so when you have limited space the solution is to delete a certain period (days, weeks, months, max one year) from the phone but keep them on the server.

Some extra for experts: you can run your own chatmail server if you wish.

Well, so much for now, if more unique aspects jump to mind I will add them as they come. So far these four distinguishing factors should give you an impetus to get interested in Delta Chat and start using it.

You can certainly reach me on it using please at writeme dot email. Peace :)