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New Delta/Desktop Release for Windows, macOS, and Linux
April 06, 2020 by compl4xx
Delta Chat Desktop does not only work well on all major platforms now. It also
offers multi-account support, and can be used even without a mobile device. If you use it together
with the appstore releases for Android or iOS, you can get a decent multi-device experience.
For many other messengers you need a phone number, or at least a mobile device - but not for Delta Chat. Even if you don’t have a phone or tablet, you can use the Desktop Client on its own.
Additionally, most messengers have the problem that you can only chat with others if they use the same messenger. With Delta Chat, you can write to anyone with an email address. This way, you are not locked into the single company-owned userbases of WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram.
If you have more than one email address, you can switch between them.
Many New Desktop Client Features!
The Desktop Client is one of the tools making this possible! Thanks to the many developers, testers, translators and contributors who made this release happen. Here is a quick overview:
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In-App Help: after it was implemented in Android, you can now read the help page in the desktop client as well. You can open it by pressing F1.
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Provider Database: when you login to your email provider, you get hints whether you need to do some extra configurations, so it works with Delta Chat.
- New Keyboard Shortcuts:
- Press Ctrl + K to search for a contact or group chat.
- Move through your chat list with Alt + ←↓↑→ arrow keys.
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There are new beautiful background images by Paula and Nico - but you can also choose a custom image.
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Profile pictures make your client more beautiful to look at, too.
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You can now copy a link by right-clicking the message it is in.
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In the media app, you can look at images in fullscreen.
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There is now also the Saved Messages & Device Chat which you might know already from the mobile apps.
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With version 1.2.0, you can adjust the font size in the top level menu. Choose it with a click on “View -> Zoom Factor”.
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The group name will now be used as the subject for outgoing messages.
- Some people successfully experiment with using Delta Chat as their only email client. The Desktop client makes it convenient to write “multi-line” messages containing several paragraphs; in this case you should also change the “Show classic emails” setting to “All”, so you never miss one.
Use Delta Simultaneously with the Android or iOS App!
If you want to synchronize a Desktop Client with the Android or iOS Delta Chat app, please export a full backup on one device and import it on the other.
This way you will get everything important synchronized between two Delta Chat installations: your login credentials, encryption setup, contacts and all chat messages and media. You can export a full backup in the settings. And during Setup of the second device you can, instead of entering login credentials, import this backup.
It’s also very useful to enable the “send copy to self” setting. Only if it’s enabled, you can see your own messages on all devices. This feature is also pretty new to the Desktop Client.
Note that the “Autocrypt Setup Message” is only useful in one case: if you want to synchronize your Delta Chat app with another Autocrypt-supporting mail client. It only allows to transfer the encryption setup, but not any chat or contact history.
Installing Delta Chat Desktop
The Desktop Client will soon be available on the macOS and Windows Appstores; for now, you need to download it from this website.
Note that you could be presented with a warning saying Delta Chat is not an official app, because we don’t have official certificates for the appstores yet.
You can look at all files of a specific conversation in the Media View.