User-friendly XMPP client Kaidan 0.4.1 released

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A major update to the simple and easy to use XMPP/Jabber messaging program Kaidan was released one week ago following one and a half year of hard development word. That long-awaited 0.4.0 release had the minor problem of not being able to connect to the Internet on some Linux distributions. Version 0.4.1 has fixed that bug as well as some other minor issues discovered after the 0.4.0 release. Kaidan is available for Linux, Android, macOS and Windows.

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It may look like this is the mobile version of Kaidan but it is actually the the desktop version. They look and feel and behave the exact same way.

XMPP, also known as "Jabber", is a very old protocol for text chat which never gained much popularity. Some still use it since it works just fine. Kaidan is a very fresh and friendly chat client for that protocol.

The new Kaidan has a very simple and easy to use interface which looks like it's made with mobile phones in mind. The simplicity does work for this chat client since there is no need for a whole lot of UI elements on a simple chat program. The window can be resized and made bigger.

Kaidan supports sending files in addition to text messages. There is no support for voice or video chat.

Kaidan 0.4.1 does not have a system tray icon for hiding and showing the application.

Kaidan is available for Windows, Linux and MacOS and to some degree Android. A Linux Appimage and standalone binaries for macOS and Windows can be acquired from www.kaidan.im/download/. The download page also lists a "Flatpak" for Linux. The Flatpak is currently broken and will not let you connect to the Internet. This is due to a build server problem affecting Flatpak. The Linux AppImage version works fine. You will have to download it, Kaidan is not yet available in any major Linux distributions repositories.

There is also a Android version listed on the download page. The Android version is "very experimental". It is not available in the F-Droid app-store and it will not be for some time.

You can find Kaidan's homepage at https://www.kaidan.im/