Fractal, the Matrix client developed for the GNOME desktop environment, just got updated to version 12 today. It includes several new features and improvements you can try out as you talk to people across decentralized Matrix networks.
Version 12 of Fractal replaces version 11.2, and this release makes several improvements to room management. You now have the ability to request invites to a room and to mark entire rooms as unread, for example. If you’re not familiar with Matrix, a “room” is like what you’d call a channel on Discord or Slack. You can use a Matrix account to hang out in multiple rooms, switching between them using Fractal’s interface.
Here’s the full list of notable improvements from the release notes:
If you have Fractal and you want to update it to version 12, you may either check your software manager for updates or force an update to your Fractal Flatpak directly with this command in the terminal:
If you want to get Fractal, the recommended method is installingthe Fractal Flatpak. If your software center has integrated Flathub, then you can find it there. Otherwise, you can install it by running this command:
If you aren’t familiar, Fractal uses the Matrix standard on the backend. Matrix is an open communication protocol that supports text chats, voice calls, and video conferences, and comms can beend-to-end encrypted. It’s federated, meaning that the separate servers users create accounts on can connect with each other. You can make an account on one Matrix server and chat with someone on another, just like you can create a Gmail address and use it to talk to someone using an Outlook account. Likewise, if Outlook were to suddenly disappear one day, that wouldn’t stop you from continuing to use your Gmail account. Compare that to what happens when Discord, a centralized messaging platform, goes down: you lose access to your account and every connection you’ve made there. Not so with the protocol Fractal uses.
Fractal as a Matrix client for GNOME has been around since its first full release in 2018. Since then has seen a lot of expansion and improvement, and its notable for the fact it was written entirely inthe Rust programming language. There are a lot of options out there for Linux folks, though. The Kubuntu installation I’m writing this on came with NeoChat, for example, and I could use it to chat with people using Fractal.
I’ve looked into getting onto Matrix before but haven’t found a community I needed to participate in that’s hosted there yet. I have no doubt though that open and decentralized communication protocols like Matrix will look more and more appealing as governments look at private messaging with increasing distrust. Sometimes popular centralized messaging services themselves make the case for open standards, likeInstagram’s recent location sharing debacle.
