Pattle is a new IM-like client for Matrix
Pattle is a new Android app that forgoes the default experience that Matrix clients such as Riot provide, and instead opts for something that more closely resembles a direct messaging platform. This is by design, according to the project readme:
The goal of Pattle is to create an app that behaves similiary (and almost exactly) like many modern popular chat apps of today, like WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal.
This is not the only goal, however: the primary goal of Pattle is to be a Matrix app that everyone can use, in terms of simplicity.
These are still early days for the project, but they already feature a comprehensive roadmap that includes:
- See history of chats
- Create chats
- See user profiles
- End-to-end encryption
Also included is an inevitable rewrite of the current SDK to support Matrix 1.0. The developer states their reasoning as such:
When Matrix 1.0 lands, the plan is to create a new, better SDK for a tech stack where code sharing across multiple platforms is possible, such as React Native.
Which brings me to the second reason for this, which is that Pattle aims to be supported on Android, iOS, web and possibly desktop. To prevent having 3 seperate codebases, something like React Native will be used, or something else in the same vein.
Pattle is not yet available on Google Play or F-Droid, but if you’re feeling adventurous, you can download an unstable APK here.
