Unified messaging platforms in 2026 (beeper, matrix-mautrix, ?)
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What's the current status of unified messaging platforms in 2026?
I see a few threads from 3 years ago regarding beeper when it was making news.
I would love to be able to put each of us at the center of our lives--using communication platforms as bridges, rather than the way they wish to be used (as islands of corporate ownership and monetization of user attention and influence).
Is matrix-mautrix good? Does anyone use it in conjunction with the cloudron matrix instance?
Is beeper's self-hosted option good?
Are there alternatives to consider?
Thanks!
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There have been many attempts at unifying the various messaging platforms... but I don't think many last. The tech changes, the APIs, the coding, etc., not to mention the companies themselves going out of business. Before you know it, there will be almost as many "unifiers" as there are messaging platforms!! I like keeping them all separate; different social circles use different platforms, and I like the gap between them all. Why would I want to have one source where I see all 14 messaging apps with all those messages??? And you know I'll send the wrong message to the wrong person, too, eventually, with one window to access it all. Anyway....
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There have been many attempts at unifying the various messaging platforms... but I don't think many last. The tech changes, the APIs, the coding, etc., not to mention the companies themselves going out of business. Before you know it, there will be almost as many "unifiers" as there are messaging platforms!! I like keeping them all separate; different social circles use different platforms, and I like the gap between them all. Why would I want to have one source where I see all 14 messaging apps with all those messages??? And you know I'll send the wrong message to the wrong person, too, eventually, with one window to access it all. Anyway....
@scooke said in Unified messaging platforms in 2026 (beeper, matrix-mautrix, ?):
I like keeping them all separate; different social circles use different platforms, and I like the gap between them all. Why would I want to have one source where I see all 14 messaging apps with all those messages???
Totally fair! My use case is less about apps and more about wanting to reclaim control over my digital life. I'd like to have an AI assistant (of my own making) that can (based on configurable rules and heuristics) help raise and lower the priorities of some messages and classes of messages (e.g. advertising, status updates from airlines, status updates about packages, etc.) Google has kind of achieved this with its email inboxes and smart patterns. But I don't want to be dependent on Google to be aligned with my best interest.
So far I'm considering matrix-mautrix as a nice middle ground for this, but I haven't yet built a cloudron package for it, so I'm not sure how difficult it might be.
Duane
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@scooke said in Unified messaging platforms in 2026 (beeper, matrix-mautrix, ?):
I like keeping them all separate; different social circles use different platforms, and I like the gap between them all. Why would I want to have one source where I see all 14 messaging apps with all those messages???
Totally fair! My use case is less about apps and more about wanting to reclaim control over my digital life. I'd like to have an AI assistant (of my own making) that can (based on configurable rules and heuristics) help raise and lower the priorities of some messages and classes of messages (e.g. advertising, status updates from airlines, status updates about packages, etc.) Google has kind of achieved this with its email inboxes and smart patterns. But I don't want to be dependent on Google to be aligned with my best interest.
So far I'm considering matrix-mautrix as a nice middle ground for this, but I haven't yet built a cloudron package for it, so I'm not sure how difficult it might be.
Duane
@canadaduane someone already did build it, do a forum search.
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@scooke said in Unified messaging platforms in 2026 (beeper, matrix-mautrix, ?):
I like keeping them all separate; different social circles use different platforms, and I like the gap between them all. Why would I want to have one source where I see all 14 messaging apps with all those messages???
Totally fair! My use case is less about apps and more about wanting to reclaim control over my digital life. I'd like to have an AI assistant (of my own making) that can (based on configurable rules and heuristics) help raise and lower the priorities of some messages and classes of messages (e.g. advertising, status updates from airlines, status updates about packages, etc.) Google has kind of achieved this with its email inboxes and smart patterns. But I don't want to be dependent on Google to be aligned with my best interest.
So far I'm considering matrix-mautrix as a nice middle ground for this, but I haven't yet built a cloudron package for it, so I'm not sure how difficult it might be.
Duane
@canadaduane I think @andreasdueren has packed WhatsApp and Signal bridges for Matrix
