Element X vs Beacon by Techne

Freedom to communicate on your own terms For individuals and communities - private communication between family, friends, hobby groups, clubs, etc. Element X gives you fast, secure and private instant messaging and video calls built on Matrix, the open standard for real-time communication. This is a free and open-source app maintained at https://github.com/element-hq/element-x-ios Stay in touch with friends, family and communities with: • Real time messaging & video calls • Public rooms for open group communication • Private rooms for closed group communication • Rich messaging features: emoji reactions, replies, polls, pinned messages and more. • Video calling while browsing messages. • Interoperability with other Matrix-based apps such as FluffyChat, Cinny and many more. Privacy-first Unlike some other messengers from Big Tech companies, we don’t mine your data or monitor your communications. Own your conversations Choose where to host your data - from any public server (the largest free server is matrix.org, but there are plenty of others to choose from) to creating your own personal server and hosting it on your own domain. This ability to choose a server is a large part of what differentiates us from other real time communication apps. However you host, you have ownership; it’s your data. You’re not the product. You’re in control. Communicate in real time, all the time Use Element everywhere. Stay in touch wherever you are with fully synchronised message history across all your devices, including on the web at https://app.element.io Element X is our next-generation app If you’re using the previous-generation Element Classic app, it’s time to try Element X! It’s faster, easier to use, and more powerful than the classic app. It’s better in every way and we’re adding new features all the time.

Beacon is a map of what your friends are up to and what is happening around town. Light a beacon when you are heading somewhere: a run, a climb, a coffee, the farmers market. Share it with friends or a circle. They see it and can join you. Or share it as a public event, and anyone nearby can light their own beacon for it. - Circles: start a circle and invite friends into it with a link or QR code - Links: share any beacon with a link or QR code, and turn the link off when you like - The map: see who is lit near you and what is on in town - Join: tap a friend's beacon and you are in - Public events: repair cafes, markets and meetups, and who is going - Notifications when someone shares a beacon with you Sign in with your phone number. No ads and no tracking. Usage analytics only if you turn it on, and never shared with another company. Report, block and account deletion are built in. Beacon is made by Techne for Gitcoin and is for people 18 and older.