Delta Chat is a cross-platform messaging application
A few days ago it was announced release of the new version of Delta Chat 1.42, which comes implementing various security-related improvements, various internal fixes, bug fixes and more.
For those who don't know about Delta Chat, It is a chat application that sends messages by email, encrypted and that it does not depend on its own server to function and is compatible with almost any mail server that supports SMTP and IMAP. In Delta Chat the user does not need to register anywhere, since it is enough to use an existing email account with Delta Chat.
In terms of security, Delta Chat uses OpenPGP for encryption which facilitates automatic configuration and key exchange without using a key server.
Main new features of Delta Chat 1.42
In this new version of Delta Chat 1.42 that is presented, the most important change that is presented is the improved end-to-end encryption, as Autocrypt end-to-end encryption was previously used, which has two deficiencies "MITM attacks and messages that are unexpectedly lost."
These Two big issues were addressed in Delta Chat 1.42 with the implementation of the SecureJoin decentralized protocols, which provide a usable model for end-to-end message encryption that is secure against attackers attempting to violate the authenticity, confidentiality, or integrity of messages, as can occur with compromised servers and networks.
With this improvement in end-to-end encryption, it is mentioned that As of Delta Chat 1.42 chats marked with a green check mark They guarantee encryption and that only encrypted messages will be sent and received and cannot be read or modified by networks or mail servers. To start a guaranteed end-to-end encrypted 1:1 chat, it is mentioned that you must scan the QR code in the application, with which a 1:1 chat is started.
Of the other changes that stand out from this new version:
- Accept/Block, Archive, Pin, and Mute actions are now synced across all your devices.
- Corrected display of a label that has an incorrect MIME type
- Solution to a problem in chat that sometimes does not update the message list
- Images are now compressed on the desktop as well (unless you send them as files)
- Fix in double message context menu
- Global gallery with your images, documents and media in all chats, now also on desktop
- Reactions can be enabled in Android advanced settings
- Bug Fixes: In all areas of development many issues were resolved
- IOS: Retrieve contact addresses in a single query
IOS: sync chat name with other devices - IOS: Addresses in QR code scans and similar places are now case-insensitively compared
- IOS: Normalized addresses to lowercase to catch unrecoverable typos and other rare errors
Finally if you are interested in knowing more about it of this new version, you can check the details In the following link.
How to install Delta Chat on Linux?
For those interested in being able to install the new version of Delta Chat, You can get the installation packages from its official website. The link is this. In the link you will be able to obtain the packages prepared for some Linux distributions, of which those that have support for deb packages, you will be able to download the package offered.
Although In general, installation through Flatpak is also offered and for this, it is enough to open a terminal and in it you must type the following command:
flatpak install flathub chat.delta.desktop
Now for the case of those who are Arch Linux, Manjaro or any other Arch based distribution users, they can install with the following command:
yay -S deltachat-desktop-git
As for those who are interested in the deb packages, or AppImage, they should know that at the moment these have not yet been generated, but as soon as they are ready they can obtain and install them with the following commands:
wget https://download.delta.chat/desktop/v1.42.2/deltachat-desktop_1.42.2_amd64.deb
And the installation with the following command:
sudo dpkg -i deltachat-desktop_1.42.2_amd64.deb
Also an AppImage package is offered, which can be obtained by typing:
wget https://download.delta.chat/desktop/v1.42.2/DeltaChat-1.42.2.AppImage
They give permissions to the application with:
sudo chmod +x DeltaChat-1.42.2.AppImage
And they run with:
./DeltaChat-1.42.2.AppImage
Within the page you can also find the links for installation on Android and iOS.