XMPP has very nice server implementations, and the protocol is OK regarding complexity.
But the clients are lacking. On linux there is gajim that is "okish" but it lacks calling capacity with mobile clients. On mobile there is conversation and derivatives on android which are "nearly there" and monad on iOS.
Globally, the main lacking features are:
- voice and video calls cross platform
- gif integration, tenor/giphy/imgur...
- fast sync (if you open gajim after being offline for a week, it takes ages to catch up)
I kind of view the lack of gifs as something positive? Like, it forces one to use actual words and think out a response.
Plus, you're not leaking all the tracking associated with those widgets.
However, I understand that people have come to expect having fun experiences in their IM clients, and that usually requires reacting with animated GIFs.
In my book it only got worse. Way worse. Sure, it looks more familiar to those who is used to iMessage/Whatsapp/Telegram, but I bet it would still look quite alienating for that audience. And for those who remember Gajim 1.x, disastrous UX doesn't outweigh introduction of reactions, history syncing and whatnot. Last time I checked it a couple of months ago:
- It was not possible to close group chat without leaving MUC.
- I had to constantly open separate search dialog to write to someone who's already in my roster but is not in the list of active chats.
- Speaking of active chats: what annoys me the most about modern IM clients (and that includes Gajim 2.x) is that list of chats is sorted by the last activity date. I don't even know how Whatsapp/Telegram users live with this, I got so fed up with hovering my mouse/finger over one chat and tapping it only for the whole thing to reorder in the last jiffy and opening something completely different, I just dropped my account from one of those centralized mass-market services altogether. It is that annoying.
- It had lots of smaller warts like nickname autocompletion requiring way more key presses (especially after someone mentions you).
But the clients are lacking. On linux there is gajim that is "okish" but it lacks calling capacity with mobile clients. On mobile there is conversation and derivatives on android which are "nearly there" and monad on iOS.
Globally, the main lacking features are:
- voice and video calls cross platform
- gif integration, tenor/giphy/imgur...
- fast sync (if you open gajim after being offline for a week, it takes ages to catch up)