Delta-chat online possible?

Feature Proposal
1

Valued Team, developers, user,

guessing it might have been a topic already, but not finding in quick search:

Are the any efforts, aims… to make the software working online without requirements of app on ones avaliable device, maybe host-able where ever one may desires, with or without saving messages on such host?

If not to far of interests: may the topic serve for good inspiration at any case.

2

possible, yes. But it’s a whole lot to code, so we’re not likely to do it anytime soon.
It also greatly depends on the scope and what exactly we want:

  • Deltachat as a webapp (data on the device in browser storage)
    Challenges:
    • compile core to wasm
    • find a way to speak TCP (for imap and smtp) via the browser (or use some kind of proxy)
    • build a web ui (we could reuse much of DeltaChat desktop)
  • Deltachat on your own server for yourself (data stored on server):
    Challenges:
    • would basically be the desktop backend running on another device as the client, with the planned json api it would be possible, but possibly unresponsive/laggy user experience because the internal RPC calls are not designed for big delays as they can occur on the internet.
  • Managed DeltaChat (data on server, multiple people can login, like for a corporate environment)
    Challenges:
    • needs a whole new core or a heavily modified one, because the current core is not designed to handle hundreds or thousands users at once
    • also the api would need to be different and some data should be cached on the client to decrease server load/usage/traffic
    • possibly new ui, but maybe we can emulate the old core in a way that we can call the same methods, but it speaks with the managed server and caches the results.

There are more ideas what this DeltaChat online could be (maybe web-based chat for a support system) and so on.
So first thing would be to exactly define what it should be, then we can discuss it better, otherwise there will be misunderstandings.

1 Like
3

Mudita, that it can serve for food for good inspirations.

Generally thought that it’s possible burdensome to carry on an app on an device and not always easy to maintain. So simply accessibility of using the chat functions of DC from everywhere.

4

Hi, sorry to bother, just a comment:
I think most people when think of a web-interface think in a website at which they go with their browser, log-in and use the app without installing/the need to install nothing, as a convenient way to use a service in any device (not mobile, because in mobile devices I see most people tend to install more and more apps…).
Instead, if they’re going to install something, they will expect to use an application (like the actual DC desktop app). To install something and then use it in their browser (whereas extremely sensitive, efficient, etc., in my opinion) through a web-interface, doesn’t seem to be so expected (in my experience).
And finally, you have the people that maybe want to have some kind of DC-web-interface-hub for many accounts (I guess, like a corporate environment).
So, my non-educated guess is that the useful projects would be:

  • the installable app with its own UI (these already exist)
  • an official DC-website where to log-in and use a web-interface in a nomadic fashion (probably a lot of work, money and GPLed code…)
  • an official self-installable server (the code of the last case) for technical-savvy power-users (let’s say)

Again. Sorry to bother, just thinking out-loud in case it server any purpose (without much hope :wink: .

Kind regards and thanks for everything!