Imagine I live in the country where internet access is censored. DC servers listed in DC apps are blocked.
I have DC account on uncensored (yet) server.
I want to invite a new user to chat with me on DC. We have no other contacts yet - no email or messengers.
Steps we need to perform with her smartphone:
setup an app on her phone; this could be done bu manual search in app market, or by reading a QR code;
in DC app we need to abort creation of new profile on build-in server;
then we need to read QR code with invitation to working server;
after succesful account registration we need to read QR code to connect with my account.
Iām new to DC. Maybe Iām missing an easier way to do it?
Though depending on the phone you can scan the invite qr code of your chatmail relay from a different qr code reader app (system camera app on iPhone), that then directly opens delta chat, so that may save you step 2.
There was the idea to share your server/relay when inviting others, but that idea is not realised yet as far as I know. May be a good time to revive the idea (like add a chatmail instance attribute to the invite links).
May be a good time to revive the idea (like add a chatmail instance attribute to the invite links).
And then with single QR she will get the links to app stores (on i.delta.chat) , and than after installing the app same QR may be read once again to register account on the right server and to create chat with specific user.
Itās still not perfect, but better then steps in starting post
Problem with relying on i.delta.chat is that the website probably is easy to block.
So step 1 may still be needed, but as soon as the app is installed to link will open directly in delta chat without going to the website.
On my Deltatouch client, the process for adding a new account to a known chatmail server is:
Go to the homepage of the server, using a browser. Rightclick in the invite QR code. Copy-to-clipboard or save the QR image file. If you canāt visit the page, get a copy of that QR code image by some other means. Maybe Tor? Or maybe she has a trusted overseas friend who could download it and send her the image file? You could even print it and send it on a piece of paper; Iām assuming you canāt meet in person.
Install a secure copy of any Deltachat client. It might make sense to have a trusted friend send you the file for this, too.
Have her create a new profile
a. DO NOT click the default option (which is āAgree and create profileā). INSTEAD, click āUse other serverā.
b. Click āScan invitation codeā.
c. Paste or open the QR image file of the server.
Send her your contact QR code somehow. Maybe the same way as step 1. The [fourboxes]>[network icon]>[nonce URL] method is always in the same domain, not in the chatmail server domain, so itās probably blocked.
I donāt think Deltachat clients automatically set up an account with the default nine.testrun.org server; you get to choose what server to use, even for your initiak account. But I am using a different client written by a different dev, so do please double-check that with others here.
How about adding a bot that will send you the chatmail server QR code if you send it the URL, on each chatmail server? I donāt think there is an easy way to share a server QR code from another Deltachat client.
Depending, Briar might actually be a better messenger for your purposes, especially if you are physically not too far apart; it is designed to be installed from one phone to another, and work when the internet doesnāt. I donāt know.
Hm, didnāt check is site blocked or nor But itās entirely possible, if not done already.
Can DC app just ignore domain and path in QRcoded URL, but use only URL parameters? Then it will be impossible to block such links. And domains may lead to app market, or to custom webpage.
You donāt actually need the chatmail server QR code. If you
Pretend you have an account on the chatmail server
a. Make up a 9-character random string, and call it your user name. If your unblocked server was nine.testrun.org, use [9-char random string]@nine.testrun.org as your email address.
b. Make up a password. A string of 12 random characters is standard.
In the DC client, pick āCreate New Profileā>āUse Other Serverā>āClassic E-Mail Loginā
Fill in your made-up address and password.
Everything works. Except in the unlikely event that that e-mail address already exists, the server will register it on first login.
Do you mean āSMTP / IMAP server is not answeringā, or āDNS domain canāt be resolved to mailserver IP addressā?
For ordinary people both cases equals to ātry that link / QR laterā (or never).
That sounds like blocking. You may be able to set your computer to use a specific uncensored DNS service. It might also be possible to do it over Tor, say by installing Carburetor (which proxies your connections over Tor, and may be in your app store) and connecting it; the interface is simple and tweakable to dodge blocking of Tor. I think using Carburetor would work but cannot replicate your blocking, so Iām not sure.
There is also a complex workaround involving manually transferring keys. You would need to securely transmit a file to your contact. I can write this workaround up for you if you like.
On features, making each Chatmail server serve its own contact URLs would be decentralized but maybe a security risk; these are supposed to be zero-trust servers.
For in-person contact exchanges, in theory no third party or internet connection is needed. I think this is a functionality that people are working on, but could be wrong.
Thanks, but Iām seekeng simplicity on user side here, not complexity.
User should still have a choice, will she create account on that particular server (from URL or QR), or she prefers to choose the one from the appās list, same way like itās implemented now on the new account creation.
you can simply point people to the server you want them to create an account in, in the page they can click the QR and then it will automatically open in delta chat with that server preconfigured, alternatively if you just share the URL of the server + /new it will automatically redirect to delta chat to create an account in that server, example: https://e2ee.wang/new
so you only need to tell them to install delta chat from the stores and then click that link to create an account, after that they can then click in a second link to get in contact with you
the danger I see with this is that it could be used to trick people into onboarding into your fishing server where you can track them, not sure we should support such feature, it is better that it is a more explicit action that requires the person to realize they will be onboarding on your server
But itās entirely possible, if not done already.