Keet - The Peer to Peer Chat App
keet.io
Keet is a peer-to-peer chat application that allows users to communicate directly with each other. 100% end-to-end encrypted. Never on a server.

I recently stumbled upon Keet, which is a peer to peer messaging app with video calls and file sharing.

This app has a lot going for it:

  • The user experience is really good
  • Free and open source EDIT: the UI of Keet in closed atm, but the underlying P2P building blocks are open
  • Privacy friendly (no datacentre, server or middleman between you and the people you are talking to)
  • Better quality since there’s no throttling of traffic
  • No file size limit

I’m baffled that this app seems like a well kept secret, so I just wanted to share it with you guys.

To me, peer to peer technology seems really interesting because it addresses the root cause of many of the harms that plagues the modern day internet: surveillance, platform silos, the market dominance of multi-national tech-conglomerates, energy usage of datacentres, etc.

What do you think? Can P2P be the solution to these problems?

  • stm@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    243·
    5 days ago

    Payments Built In As your app grows, Holepunch lets you evolve into a business without compromises. With Bitcoin Lightning and USDt micropayments built-in, it’s easy to implement and use powerful paid features in apps. Peers control their own data, including how it’s bought and sold. The days of tokens, ads, hidden incentives, and data harvesting are over.

    No thank you

    • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip
      82·
      5 days ago

      Lightning is a steaming pile of horse shit. Anyone who thinks lightning is peer-to-peer is totally fooling themselves.

      • Sonalder@lemmy.ml
        3·
        5 days ago

        Well I agree with you that Lightning isn’t a magical piece of innovation that will scale Bitcoin to the masses. However you can use it p2p. There is no lie here. Is it easy to setup ? Is it easy to maintain ? Not really it’s not hard but it’s a entry barrier for sure.

    • belit_deg@lemmy.worldOP
      2·
      4 days ago

      I’m no crypto fan or plan on using micropayments either, but if I don’t use it, where’s the harm?

      • stm@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        1·
        1 day ago

        Why would you use it anyway ? If you want p2p chat there are options not connected to any blockchain, briar for example.

        but if I don’t use it, where’s the harm?

        The harm is already made by making this application. By using it you help spread idea that p2p=blockchain/crypto which is not the case. It’s just that cryptobros coopt word “p2p” into their language and supposedly they are p2p.

        Same as you don’t have to use their micropayment, there is no reason to use this app also. There are real p2p options, as I said briar for example, or some other p2p chat app without cryptobros bullshit.

        • belit_deg@lemmy.worldOP
          1·
          1 day ago

          I already listed my reasons for wanting to try out/use it, and they have nothing to do with crypto or micropayments.

          If you can name alternatives with similar functionality made by people who are not affiliated with crypto, I’m all ears. Briar seems great for journalists and activists etc, but it is too limited to be used as a mainstream messenger for keeping in touch with friends and family. Seems like all you can do is send text and emojis, no video chat or photos.

          • stm@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
            1·
            21 hours ago

            If you can name alternatives with similar functionality made by people who are not affiliated with crypto, I’m all ears

            https://tox.chat/index.html maybe this, didn’t try it, but it says it has audio/video calls and file sharing.

            How strict are you on going with full p2p, because xmpp is federated(not p2p) and it has nice network of servers working a long time and ok clients to use, Conversations being the best imo. Some of my friends switched their family and friends to xmpp and complaints at all

            • belit_deg@lemmy.worldOP
              1·
              15 hours ago

              I want to communicate with others in a way that is privacy friendly, gives a good user experience and gives me control of my data. Tox seems good, but most of my friends and family have iphones, and none of the clients support that. Today they use Whatsapp, Messenger, etc. Signal would be a big improvement, but as far as I can tell it is still centralized and wants your phone number.

              Maybe XMPP can work, I will check that out.

              P2P caught my interest because of the possibilities that opens up when you remove the middle-man/server (even better call quality, no file size limits). But it doesn’t have to be P2P - I’m just a fan of “local first”, decentralization and democratization of technology in general.

    • Sonalder@lemmy.ml
      5·
      5 days ago

      It’s not FOSS, it is somewhat open source but the licence is too restrictive to be Free(dom) Software

      • warmaster@lemmy.world
        3·
        4 days ago

        I couldn’t find the source nor the license. But if it’s not FOSS I wouldn’t even consider it.

        • Sonalder@lemmy.ml
          2·
          4 days ago

          I tried it but they market themselves as Open Source and when I started digging I was like ehhhh… no thanks and I uninstall the app.

        • belit_deg@lemmy.worldOP
          1·
          5 days ago

          My bad, on the Pears homepage it says “Join the open-source P2P revolution”, so I assumed that was the case.

          Someone asked the same question in the community group chat. Seems like the UI for Keet is closed atm, the rest is open.

  • gsv@programming.devEnglish
    6·
    5 days ago

    I dunno. P2P traffic always seems to overburden light users and it would indeed require the apps to always run in the background to relay the traffic. Although the idea seems compelling I wouldn’t install the software on a machine of mine.

    • belit_deg@lemmy.worldOP
      1·
      4 days ago

      I’m testing syncing, notification and battery usage now on a few devices to see how it behaves. So far, so good. It also lets you specify which type of user you are inviting, so that admins does the heavy lifting

      • gsv@programming.devEnglish
        1·
        4 days ago

        I’m not sure I understand this, tbh. Does that mean the P2P network works on a chat group basis? Or does the user explicitly choose who to build a P2P network with? And then, there are lots of follow up questions already looking around the corner.

        Their website seems to explain very little and the app itself is closed source. Although there are open source dependencies, it’s for instance unclear whether they are complete. So I guess it’ll all come down to trust into the software and the company. Btw. their privacy statement allows the usage of aggregate data for marketing purposes and the sharing of data with third parties, such as search engines. And latest at that point I’d rather self-host a matrix instance.

  • MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    1·
    4 days ago

    The biggest downside with P2P on a mobile device is it needs to run in the background all the time, and constantly uses small amounts of data making connections.