“Profanity” is an XMPP app. (For those who got the wrong idea about the title)

What I use:

  • Debian with Profanity (preferred for the proper keyboard and TUI)
  • Android with Snikket

What my low-tech comrades use:

  • iOS with Snikket

It’s a bit of a disaster. One iOS-Snikket user gets my msgs but never a notification. Another iOS-Snikket user is plagued with that error msg (some bogus msg about OMEMO being unsupported). My comrades are at the edge of sanity since I’m the one who imposed xmpp+omemo on them, and they have little tolerance for all the problems.

I’m not sure what to try next. I would hate to replace Profanity because it’s the only decent text based option with official debian support. Would it help if the iOS users switch from Snikket to Monocles?

  • activistPnkOP
    1·
    1 month ago

    You question forced me to revisit this and take a closer look. I have in my notes “If someone’s fingerprint is untrusted, they will get an encrypted msg that they cannot read.” So I entered a 1:1 window with the one person who only ever gets errors from me, entered /omemo fingerprint, and it simply showed the person’s fingerprint. Then I did the same for someone who has fewer issues with me, and printed next to their fingerprint is “(trusted)”. Ah ha! The other acct has an untrusted fingerprint and Profanity does a shitty job of informing the user. The absense of a “(trusted)” when asking for the fingerprint is the crucial indicator.

    To answer your question, I think keys are managed automatically. I never had to add a key. But I have had to trust fingerprints. In the new version of profanity it’s possible to enter /omemo trustmode blind. That would also solve my problem but I don’t want to be sloppy. So I have to guide the other user to their own fingerprint and confirm it.

    (edit)
    Well this is bizarre. There are a couple people who I can talk to in Profanity just fine with OMEMO enabled, and their fingerprint also lacks the “(trusted)” next to it. Yet my trustmode is “manual”.

    • leetnewb@beehaw.org
      1·
      1 month ago

      One other thought. I was under the (possibly faulty) impression that the first login of a snikket client helps the omemo process. Have you logged in with the mobile client yet?

      I’ve had mixed results with omemo shenanigans on snikket iOS. Not sure how well PWAs work on iOS, but I considered encouraging my users to try one over the native client.

      • activistPnkOP
        1·
        30 days ago

        I started with the snikket android app, which I actually rely on for inbound messages because if my desktop is shutdown when a msg arrives, Profanity will never get it. I occassionally send a msg using the Snikket app and it has a better success rate than Profanity.