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sources/tech/20200303 Session- An Open Source Private Messenger That Doesn-t Need Your Phone Number.md
144 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
144 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
[#]: collector: (lujun9972)
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[#]: translator: ( )
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[#]: reviewer: ( )
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[#]: subject: (Session: An Open Source Private Messenger That Doesn’t Need Your Phone Number)
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[#]: via: (https://itsfoss.com/session-messenger/)
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[#]: author: (Ankush Das https://itsfoss.com/author/ankush/)
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Session: An Open Source Private Messenger That Doesn’t Need Your Phone Number
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======
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_**Brief: Our open source software highlight of the week is Session. It is a fork of another increasingly popular private messenger Signal. Session doesn’t even need your phone number to operate.**_
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### Session: A private messenger in true sense
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![][1]
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Privacy concerned people are always in the search of an ultimate service that lets you communicate securely while respecting our privacy across multiple platforms.
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Recently, I came across an interesting open-source messaging app “[Session][2]” by [Loki Foundation][3], which is technically a fork of another [open source encrypted messenger Signal][4].
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In this article, I’ll be sharing my experience with the Session app while highlighting the features it offers.
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Session is fairly new to the scene – I’ve mentioned some of the bugs that I encountered at the bottom of the article.
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### Features of Session Messenger
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I’ll highlight the key features of Session that will help you decide if it’s good enough for you to try.
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#### Session does not require a phone number
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![][5]
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For privacy-enthusiasts, registering the phone number with Signal or other such applications is a potential risk.
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But, with Session, you do not need a phone number, simply click on “**Create Account**” after you install it on your desktop or phone and it will simply generate a random (unique) **Session ID**.
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It’ll look something like this: **05652245af9a8bfee4f5a8138fd5c……..**
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So, you just have to share your Session ID with the contact you want to add. Or, you can also opt to get the **QR Code** after account creation which you can share with your friends to add you back.
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#### Session uses blockchain (and other crypto tech)
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![Session ID][6]
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For the users who’re aware of what a [blockchain][7] is – they’ve been waiting for real-world applications that an average user can utilize. Session is one such example that utilizes blockchain at its core and you don’t need to know it’s there.
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If you’re curious about how it works, you can take a look at their [official blog post][8] explaining it.
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#### Cross-Platform Support
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![][9]
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For something strictly privacy-focused, you’d also want it to be available across multiple platforms.
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Of course, primarily, I’d focus on the Linux and Android support but it also supports Windows/Mac/iOS. So, you can easily sync between multiple devices cross-platform.
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#### Includes Essential Privacy Options
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![][10]
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Undoubtedly, it offers some essential privacy-focused features that will help make the experience more secure.
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For starters, you have the following options:
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* **Message TTL**: This lets you control how long the message exists before the recipient sees the message.
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* **Read Receipts**: Let others know that you’ve seen the message or if your message has been read.
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#### Session uses a decentralized network and protects your metadata
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Even though Session isn’t a peer-to-peer technology, it does not have a central server for the network.
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It takes a decentralized approach to how the messages are transmitted (or routed). If you’ve no idea what I’m talking about, you can follow Session’s official blog post to know the [difference between centralization and decentralization][11] and explore how it potentially works.
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And, this approach of network helps them to protect the metadata (the information associated with a message like IP address).
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#### Other Features
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Not just limited to the latest/greatest privacy-friendly features, but it also supports group chats, voice messages, and also allows you to send attachments.
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### Installing Session on Linux
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If you head to the [official download page][12], you will be able to download an .**AppImage** file. In case you have no clue how it works, you should take a look at our article on [how to use AppImage][13].
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In either case, you can also head to their [GitHub releases page][14] and grab the **.deb** file.
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[Download Session][12]
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### My Experience On Using Session App
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I’ve managed to try it on multiple platforms. For the desktop, I utilized the .AppImage file on **Pop!_OS 19.10** to run Session.
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Overall, the user experience was impressive and had no UI glitches.
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It’s also easy to recover your account once you’ve backed up your secret code (which is known as **seed**) from the settings.
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![][15]
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But, I also noticed a couple of issues- which can be fixed/improved:
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* Delay in accepting a friend request
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* The way of linking devices is not intuitive
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* Sometimes when you reply from two separate devices (using the same ID), the receiver gets two different conversations.
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**Conclusion**
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Of course, nothing’s ever perfect. For now, I’m thinking of keeping it installed and considering Session’s features, it is definitely something a privacy-focused user should try.
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What do you think about it? Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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via: https://itsfoss.com/session-messenger/
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作者：[Ankush Das][a]
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选题：[lujun9972][b]
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译者：[译者ID](https://github.com/译者ID)
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校对：[校对者ID](https://github.com/校对者ID)
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本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出
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[a]: https://itsfoss.com/author/ankush/
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[b]: https://github.com/lujun9972
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[1]: https://i0.wp.com/itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/session-app.jpg?ssl=1
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[2]: https://getsession.org/
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[3]: https://loki.foundation/
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[4]: https://itsfoss.com/signal-messaging-app/
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[5]: https://i1.wp.com/itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/session-create.jpg?ssl=1
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[6]: https://i1.wp.com/itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/session-application-id.jpg?ssl=1
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[7]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain
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[8]: https://getsession.org/how-session-protects-your-anonymity-with-blockchain-and-crypto/
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[9]: https://i0.wp.com/itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/session-cross-platform.jpg?ssl=1
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[10]: https://i2.wp.com/itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/session-settings.jpg?fit=800%2C512&ssl=1
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[11]: https://getsession.org/centralisation-vs-decentralisation-in-private-messaging/
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[12]: https://getsession.org/download/
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[13]: https://itsfoss.com/use-appimage-linux/
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[14]: https://github.com/loki-project/session-desktop/releases
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[15]: https://i0.wp.com/itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/session-seed.jpg?ssl=1
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