There are already countless chatting software (such as WhatsApp, Skype, Discord, Facebook Messenger), but almost all of them are non-free software based on central servers, and their security and privacy are not guaranteed (any chat history of you will be sold to various companies). Many of them claim to encrypt communication content, even with end-to-end encryption, but when a platform is proprietary, there is simply no way for others to verify that it is as secure and private as it promises to be. Of course, there are some really safe and reliable ones, but they are frequently blocked by governments of various countries and cannot continue (such as Signal, Telegram).

Jami (formerly called GNU Ring, SFLphone) is a free, open-source and absolutely secure end-to-end encrypted, distributed voice, video and text communication platform, which does not rely on a central server and puts the power of privacy and freedom in the hands of users . It was developed and maintained by Savoir-faire Linux from Canada. It summarizes itself as a general-purpose communication GNU package respecting user freedom and privacy, is mainly for point-to-point communication and SIP-based messaging, and has now become a GNU project.

Jami adopts the point-to-point connection method of the public network, encrypts the chat information between users and transmits it directly to the other party, without going through/staying in a third-party server, so the information can only be seen by the sender and the receiver, with absolute privacy and security. It supports real-time text messaging, audio/video calls, file sharing, screen sharing, recording/sending of audio/video content, SIP phoning, and more growing and improving capabilities, so as to perfectly implement privacy-focused distributed communications .

Even better, Jami doesn’t ask for any personal information to create an account, including phone numbers and email addresses. It doesn’t even require an Internet connection. If people are on the same local network, they don’t need to be connected to the Internet to send messages to each other. This enables you to use your computer/phone to send messages while still confining your communications to within the walls of the building you are in.

Currently the most secure chat software should be TOX. Its advantage is that it does not require a server, and it is as difficult to block as a magnet link. Its disadvantage is that you cannot receive group messages when you are not online, you cannot log in to multiple devices at the same time with one account, and the battery consumption of mobile phones that are online for a long time is fast. Jami has almost the same pattern as TOX. However, TOX’s DHT (Distributed Hash Table) takes the cumbersome onion route, and the user experience is poor; while Jami’s is a simple and general OpenDHT library developed by itself.

// Key Features //

Feature	Description
Free	As in free beer AND as in freedom.
Unlimited	Without restriction on file size, speed, bandwidth, features, number of accounts, storage or anything else.
Ad Free	There will never be advertising on Jami.
Private	All communications are peer-to-peer and end-to-end encrypted.
Compatible	Available on Linux, Android, AndroidTV, Windows, macOS and iOS.
Fast	Latency is reduced and transfer speeds are greatly increased thanks to the direct peer-to-peer connection.
Autonomous	Users who are on the same local network can communicate with Jami even if they are disconnected from the internet.
Anonymous	No personal information needs to be provided when creating an account.

// Fan Made Demo Video //

// Prompts //

• Due to Jami’s transition from using Qt 5 to Qt 6, and the fact that Qt 6 only supports Windows 10 and later, new versions of Jami released in 2022 and onwards only support Windows 10 and later. If you use an older Windows version (e.g. Windows 7, 8, or 8.1) and are unable to switch to Windows 10 or later at this point, you can download older versions of Jami from the archive.
• jami_x86_64-202112221025 is the final version that supports Windows 8.1-.
• If you can not send/receive text message correctly, you can try to disable the “Use TURN” option at advanced settings to solve this problem.

// Related Links //

• Jami F.A.Q.

// Download URLs //

License	Version	Download	Size
Freeware	Latest		n/a

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