The new #UnifiedPush specifications for Android are merged 🎉

The main changes are as follows:
- Server-to-server requests are defined as web push
- It introduces VAPID (a way of authorizing the application server), urgency and topics
- The ability to define a default distributor
- Gives the distributor the power to properly wake up applications, a bit like what play services do with urgent messages!

Great news, @nlnet will fund my FOSS projects @foss_warn and @foss_public_alert_server. This allows me to make #FOSSWarn a much bigger project than I initially imagined.

With the funding from nlnet, I will build the FOSS Public Alert Server (together with @VolkerKrause) and integrate it into FOSS Warn. That means FOSS Warn will not only get real push notifications via #unifiedPush but will also support way more countries than now.

I’m really excited about that possibility. 🚀

I tried this but using #NextPush instead of NTFY.

Tapping on #UnifiedPush in the #Dav5X settings instantly picked up UnifiedPush and subscribed, showing my account in brackets. The NextPush Android app showed Davx5 as subscribed.

It seems I had to turn the collection off and on a couple of times before it showed as subscribed, and it still takes about 30 seconds to update. Could that just be #GrapheneOS's default calendar app that I'm using?

The migration to @Codeberg is now done ! 🎉

All the repositories are mirrored to github and all the CI have been updated.

Next versions of the libraries will be on mavenCentral.

Thanks @nlnet for giving time to do these small but important tasks 🙏

#UnifiedPush

Yay, #PolyculeClient now supports #UnifiedPush on Android 🎉 !

gitlab.com/polycule_client/pol…

feat: add UnifiedPush handler (!97) · Merge requests · polycule / polycule · GitLab

Signed-off-by: The one with the braid info@braid.business

^GitLab

I've tagged version 0.0.1 of #libcmatrix - a #matrix client library.

The project was initiated and developed by
Sadiq (gitlab.gnome.org/pksadiq) in order to add Matrix support to chatty (gitlab.gnome.org/World/Chatty) for @purism

It has been a bit 😴 over the past months but my recent interest in #unifiedpush derailed me and I had a look at the code base, cleaned up minor things and figured it might make sense to tag a release so here we go: source.puri.sm/Librem5/libcmat…

Thanks @devrtz for the reviews!

World / Chatty · GitLab

SMS/MMS, Matrix and (optionally) XMPP messaging via ModemManager, mmsd-tng, libcmatrix and libpurple

^GitLab

While @suraj_sloth is working on the #UnifiedPush connector side in #Chatty I got a chance to add the code for registering/unregistering #Matrix push gateways in #libcmatrix and Chatty (with this I can readily round trip messages up to the UP distributor):

#phosh #LinuxMobile #adwaita #gtk

Neue Zeile in der Messenger-Matrix ergänzt: »Unterstützte Push-Benachrichtigungsdienste«. Ich habe nicht zu jedem Messenger ausreichend Informationen gefunden, daher wäre es lieb ❤️ , wenn ihr dazu Feedback abgebt. Korrekturen nehme ich gerne vor. 👇

messenger-matrix.de/messenger-…

#push #google #apple #android #ios #fcm #apn #websocket #unifiedpush #ntfy

Teste seit heute die #UnifiedPush Version von #Molly (Signal Fork). Benachrichtigung über neue Nachrichten erfolgt via #ntfy. Bereits nach einem Tag Test lässt sich sagen: Akku-Verbrauch ist geringer als mit #WebSocket bei Signal.

github.com/mollyim/mollyim-and…

GitHub - mollyim/mollyim-android-unifiedpush: Molly with UnifiedPush support.

Molly with UnifiedPush support. Contribute to mollyim/mollyim-android-unifiedpush development by creating an account on GitHub.

^GitHub

Hell, yes. This is nothing but good news.

I've been using Unified Push + Element + Fedilab via Nextcloud and NextPush and it's been remarkably simple and reliable while keeping all that sweet, sweet metadata out of the Goog's hungry clutches. Thank you!

Can't wait for Yunohost to support sliding sync so I can shift to ElementX.

#UnifiedPush #Privacy #FOSS #Element #ElementX #Yunohost #Fedilab #Nextcloud #NextPush #Google #Android

@delta is this also addressing / solving your issue on iOS?

#UnifiedPush #matrix

This week, next gen @element client, Element-X, and @neochat announced they are supporting #UnifiedPush. This makes 2 more @matrix clients supporting it !

NeoChat the second Linux app officially supporting UnifiedPush, after @tokodon

#matrix

Guten Morgen. Wer sie noch nicht kennt, sollte unbedingt einen Blick in die Empfehlungsecke werfen. Diese enthält meine aktuellen Empfehlungen zu verschiedenen Themen wie Messenger, Werbeblocker, werbefreies YouTube, Passwort-Manager, Suchmaschinen und Co. 👇

kuketz-blog.de/empfehlungsecke…

#empfehlung #tracking #security #datenschutz #adblocker #android #youtube #messenger #linux #firefox #dns #unifiedpush #email #frankgehtran #thunderbird #passwortmanager #videokonferenz #vpn #suchmaschine

Empfehlungsecke

Die Empfehlungsecke beinhaltet aktuelle Empfehlungen zu Messengern, Browser-Add-ons und weiteren Themen • IT-Sicherheit aus Karlsruhe

^{Kuketz IT-Security Blog}

Version 0.4.0 (Codename „All Engines Running“) of Ltt.rs not only brings support for #UnifiedPush but also a UI refresh. The e-mail client for Android now supports Material U / dynamic colors.

#autocrypt #opensource #email #Lttrs

Note that Ltt.rs requires an e-mail server that supports #JMAP. (There aren’t many providers that support it so Ltt.rs is currently more for the adventurous / self hosting type user.)

Hey ! We're pleased to announce that Ltt.rs [1], an email (JMAP) client, and Mercurygram [2], a new fork of #Telegram, now support #UnifiedPush. And support is being upstreamed to Telegram-FOSS :)

[1] ltt.rs from @daniel
[2] github.com/drizzt/Mercurygram/ from @timothy

GitHub - drizzt/Mercurygram: Unofficial, FOSS-friendly fork of the original Telegram client for Android

Unofficial, FOSS-friendly fork of the original Telegram client for Android - GitHub - drizzt/Mercurygram: Unofficial, FOSS-friendly fork of the original Telegram client for Android

^GitHub

I've long believed that all apps (at least on Android) should start supporting UnifiedPush[1]. Tools like ntfy could serve as a central hub for notification distribution, allowing anyone to have their own notification server to connect apps and mobile devices. This would ensure greater privacy.
This is also why I developed NotiMail: we shouldn't have to rely on the 'big players' for our notifications and data.

[1] unifiedpush.org/

#UnifiedPush #AndroidApps #PrivacyMatters #NotiMail #Google #Apple #Android #iOS

Android or iPhone — either Google or Apple delivers our messages — surely? You don't accept that?

Time I Learned: there are freedom-respecting phones.

People who do not want to depend on Google or have them control our devices are using android-compatible but not google-controlled phones, a.k.a. “degoogled phones”. We have been asking (ourselves) for several years if we can have google-free push notifications. Thanks to the developers of the UnifiedPush standard, the answer is now, “yes!”

But why?

You've probably heard of the Observer Effect. Partly influenced by hearing that someone is observing my blog from a social psychology angle relating to attitudes among the open source community, but also I was already thinking I should, I've decided to write more about why I write/build/care about the topics I choose. For a start I wrote a “Why Would I Care?” section for my latest post Google-Free Push Messaging for Google-Free Phones. Here, that section is published as an article on its own.

Why Would I Care?

Why would I care how my push notifications reach my phone? What difference does it make to me?

That's a good question. Inside a building that has a good heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, we don't notice the system, we just feel comfortable. With push notification delivery, part of the answer is the same: the system just does its job and our notifications come through. Whether the delivery channel is controlled by Google or by us or by someone else doesn't change that. The immediate, concrete result is the same. So it's not about wanting it to function differently; that's not why I care.

The difference it makes to me is about freedom, privacy, independence, self-agency. I am happy to have the choice to use any particular company's service, but I am not happy to be forced to use them, to have no choice, if I can't leave no matter how bad it gets. What if I don't like Google monitoring my notifications to know what I'm doing? What if I don't like to live in fear of offending them in some way and being cut off from their service and having no replacement option? What if I just don't want to condone their business model by using it, but I still want to be notified when I have messages?

Push notification delivery is one of the many invisible technical services that underpin our online communication systems. These kinds of services are implicitly considered to be part of the public infrastructure, something that we now assume is available to everyone.

When we allow ourselves to become dependent on any particular company's service, and yet do not regulate it as a public service provider, then we subject ourselves to the company's whims, priorities and values, which are different from ours. They will inevitably act against public interests.

Building publicly owned infrastructure based on open standards and freedom software is therefore essential to ensure the independent provision of services aligned with public needs and values.

I am one of the people who feels it is my place to use, promote and build non-proprietary public services, both for my own mental wellbeing and because I believe it is important for society.

It is the same reason why I support: open Ed-Tech, degoogled phones, #matrix, #fediverse, freedom software, open-source hardware, #rightToRepair.

Speaking as one of the people who prefer our devices not to be controlled by and dependent on Google:

What do we want? UnifiedPush!

When do we want it? Now!

I would love to work on any freedom tech project bringing UnifiedPush to a wider audience.

See my other posts tagged... #unifiedPush #degoogled #awesomeFOSS

Follow/Feedback/Contact: RSS feed · Fedi follow this blog: @julian​@wrily.foad.me.uk · use the Cactus Comments box above · matrix me · Fedi follow me · email me · julian.foad.me.ukDonate: via LiberapayAll posts © Julian Foad and licensed CC-BY-ND except quotes, translations, or where stated otherwise

awesomeFOSS — julian

awesomeFOSS posts on julian

^julian

julian

2023-12-04 12:42:55

Google-Free Push Messaging for Google-Free Phones

UnifiedPush open-standard push messaging complements degoogled android-compatible phone OS's such as LineageOS.

People who do not want to depend on Google or have them control our devices are using android-compatible but not google-controlled phones, a.k.a. “degoogled phones”. We have been asking for several years if we can have google-free push notifications. Thanks to the developers of UnifiedPush, the answer is now, “yes!”

The open standard UnifiedPush.org has now been created. While not a large number yet, a useful handful of apps already support UnifiedPush, including several matrix and fediverse apps. For its servers and the associated client-side “distributor” component, there are multiple successful implementations deployed.

The current situation is such that anyone can use UnifiedPush on an android-compatible device by installing their choice of UnifiedPush distributor app (which must run in the background), configuring it to connect to their chosen U-P server (compatible with chosen distributor), and then installing any number of U-P-aware apps which will then use it (without needing per-app configuration to do so).

In android-compatible OS ROM projects such as LineageOS, implementing some core support for the UnifiedPush.org standard now seems to me like the right way to go. Exactly what form of support is to be decided.

Involving the OS ROM

Some ways an OS like LineageOS could usefully be involved to improve the UnifiedPush experience are:

• ensuring the U-P distributor app has a convenient way to be installed and permitted to run in the background, free from restrictions, because getting this right is critical and if the user installs the distributor manually it can be tricky to get right; (investigate: would it need to be a system app, or some kind of whitelisting (ugh), or be split into a system component and a user component, or what?)
• providing a convenient way to let the user (or the OS distribution provider) configure the distributor's U-P server address: perhaps rather than using an ad-hoc UI provided by the distributor app, it could integrate with “accounts” settings.
• potentially providing a system settings UI for monitoring the U-P connections and which apps are using them.

Thoughts on the role of microG. The purpose of microG as best I understand is to provide Google compatible APIs to apps which expect Google services. Underneath these APIs, it provides access to a mixture of actual Google services, alternative real services, and fake services. As far as I know it does not so far provide any non-Google APIs, and yet for push notifications the provision of UnifiedPush APIs might be a good fit for fulfilling its overall purpose as a compatibility layer. Or perhaps not, perhaps that is out of scope and should be in LineageOS or another add-on layer instead. I'm sure the folks involved will work out what is best.

Constraints, FCM Fallback, non-Android

Unlike the situation with some other google APIs, it is important to note that an OS compatibility layer such as microG cannot automatically divert the connections made by apps built using Google's FCM, to use U-P instead. The apps must be modified.

However, the inverse is possible: a UnifiedPush aware app can automatically “fall back” to using Google's FCM if U-P support is absent and FCM support is present. See details of the Embedded FCM Distributor in UnifiedPush documentation.

Non-Android devices can use UnifiedPush too, including Linux phones such as PinePhone and Purism Librem. The UnifiedPush D-Bus spec may be relevant. (On locked-down proprietary devices such as Apple's it is unlikely to be possible, nor to make much sense: FAQ.)

Packaging a UnifiedPush Distributor

A U-P distributor app could be built in to an OS or subsystem like microG but there is a significant down-side to that: it would support only one type, or at most a fixed small number of types, of U-P server. Choosing a distributor type is more of a whole OS packaging decision. In cases where the whole OS is related to a service provider of some kind (so not like LineageOS, but perhaps like Murena/Calyx/Graphene etc.), the service provider might choose to run a U-P server for their users and have their distributor automatically connect to it (with user consent/opt-in/opt-out). In the more generic/self-hosted case (like LineageOS) it makes more sense to leave it to the user to install their preferred U-P distributor.

I would love to see distributors of google-free phones, such as Murena, support google-free push notifications. I posted a brief sketch of a UnifiedPush Plan for Murena /e/-OS on their forum, without attempting to go into details of integrating the U-P distributor into the ROM.

History

A rough time line of UnifiedPush development. (From light research and having followed it through its development.)

• 2018: FOSS-Push planning
• 2019: OpenPush — defines the architectural concept
• 2020: UnifiedPush — building on OpenPush concept to a complete specification
• 2021: Gotify — a FOSS push system — was forked to add UnifiedPush support
• 2021: NextPush — NextCloud-based UnifiedPush system created
• 2022: ntfy — a FOSS push system — adds UnifiedPush support
• now: more and more apps use UnifiedPush for google-free push support

Conclusion

Whatever the specifics of how any android-compatible OS ROM project might choose to proceed with google-free push support, the solution space enabled by UnifiedPush now exists. Speaking as one of the people who prefer our devices not to be controlled by and dependent on Google:

What do we want? UnifiedPush!

When do we want it? Now!

---

See my other posts tagged... #unifiedPush #degoogled #awesomeFOSS

---

Follow/Feedback/Contact: RSS feed · Fedi follow this blog: @[url=https://social.jsts.xyz/users/8mflxtuvnp]Julian[/url]​@wrily.foad.me.uk · use the Cactus Comments box above · matrix me · Fedi follow me · email me · julian.foad.me.ukDonate: via LiberapayAll posts © Julian Foad and licensed CC-BY-ND except quotes, translations, or where stated otherwise

nextpush-android

Android application

^Codeberg.org

UnifiedPush open-standard push messaging complements degoogled android-compatible phone OS's such as LineageOS.

People who do not want to depend on Google or have them control our devices are using android-compatible but not google-controlled phones, a.k.a. “degoogled phones”. We have been asking for several years if we can have google-free push notifications. Thanks to the developers of UnifiedPush, the answer is now, “yes!”

The open standard UnifiedPush.org has now been created. While not a large number yet, a useful handful of apps already support UnifiedPush, including several matrix and fediverse apps. For its servers and the associated client-side “distributor” component, there are multiple successful implementations deployed.

The current situation is such that anyone can use UnifiedPush on an android-compatible device by installing their choice of UnifiedPush distributor app (which must run in the background), configuring it to connect to their chosen U-P server (compatible with chosen distributor), and then installing any number of U-P-aware apps which will then use it (without needing per-app configuration to do so).

In android-compatible OS ROM projects such as LineageOS, implementing some core support for the UnifiedPush.org standard now seems to me like the right way to go. Exactly what form of support is to be decided.

Involving the OS ROM

Some ways an OS like LineageOS could usefully be involved to improve the UnifiedPush experience are:

• ensuring the U-P distributor app has a convenient way to be installed and permitted to run in the background, free from restrictions, because getting this right is critical and if the user installs the distributor manually it can be tricky to get right; (investigate: would it need to be a system app, or some kind of whitelisting (ugh), or be split into a system component and a user component, or what?)
• providing a convenient way to let the user (or the OS distribution provider) configure the distributor's U-P server address: perhaps rather than using an ad-hoc UI provided by the distributor app, it could integrate with “accounts” settings.
• potentially providing a system settings UI for monitoring the U-P connections and which apps are using them.

Thoughts on the role of microG. The purpose of microG as best I understand is to provide Google compatible APIs to apps which expect Google services. Underneath these APIs, it provides access to a mixture of actual Google services, alternative real services, and fake services. As far as I know it does not so far provide any non-Google APIs, and yet for push notifications the provision of UnifiedPush APIs might be a good fit for fulfilling its overall purpose as a compatibility layer. Or perhaps not, perhaps that is out of scope and should be in LineageOS or another add-on layer instead. I'm sure the folks involved will work out what is best.

Constraints, FCM Fallback, non-Android

Unlike the situation with some other google APIs, it is important to note that an OS compatibility layer such as microG cannot automatically divert the connections made by apps built using Google's FCM, to use U-P instead. The apps must be modified.

However, the inverse is possible: a UnifiedPush aware app can automatically “fall back” to using Google's FCM if U-P support is absent and FCM support is present. See details of the Embedded FCM Distributor in UnifiedPush documentation.

Non-Android devices can use UnifiedPush too, including Linux phones such as PinePhone and Purism Librem. The UnifiedPush D-Bus spec may be relevant. (On locked-down proprietary devices such as Apple's it is unlikely to be possible, nor to make much sense: FAQ.)

Packaging a UnifiedPush Distributor

A U-P distributor app could be built in to an OS or subsystem like microG but there is a significant down-side to that: it would support only one type, or at most a fixed small number of types, of U-P server. Choosing a distributor type is more of a whole OS packaging decision. In cases where the whole OS is related to a service provider of some kind (so not like LineageOS, but perhaps like Murena/Calyx/Graphene etc.), the service provider might choose to run a U-P server for their users and have their distributor automatically connect to it (with user consent/opt-in/opt-out). In the more generic/self-hosted case (like LineageOS) it makes more sense to leave it to the user to install their preferred U-P distributor.

I would love to see distributors of google-free phones, such as Murena, support google-free push notifications. I posted a brief sketch of a UnifiedPush Plan for Murena /e/-OS on their forum, without attempting to go into details of integrating the U-P distributor into the ROM.

History

A rough time line of UnifiedPush development. (From light research and having followed it through its development.)

• 2018: FOSS-Push planning
• 2019: OpenPush — defines the architectural concept
• 2020: UnifiedPush — building on OpenPush concept to a complete specification
• 2021: Gotify — a FOSS push system — was forked to add UnifiedPush support
• 2021: NextPush — NextCloud-based UnifiedPush system created
• 2022: ntfy — a FOSS push system — adds UnifiedPush support
• now: more and more apps use UnifiedPush for google-free push support

Conclusion

Whatever the specifics of how any android-compatible OS ROM project might choose to proceed with google-free push support, the solution space enabled by UnifiedPush now exists. Speaking as one of the people who prefer our devices not to be controlled by and dependent on Google:

What do we want? UnifiedPush!

When do we want it? Now!

See my other posts tagged... #unifiedPush #degoogled #awesomeFOSS

Follow/Feedback/Contact: RSS feed · Fedi follow this blog: @julian​@wrily.foad.me.uk · use the Cactus Comments box above · matrix me · Fedi follow me · email me · julian.foad.me.ukDonate: via LiberapayAll posts © Julian Foad and licensed CC-BY-ND except quotes, translations, or where stated otherwise

nextpush-android

Android application

^Codeberg.org

Made some nice progress on my rust reference 'fake' #UnifiedPush distributor implementation today.
Pushed my code publicly and finished the registration part.
Started the to work on the message sending and found out the C & golang connector library needs some more love as that too was changed in the spec and never updated. That's for this weekend then I guess.. 😅

gitlab.com/j0dev/rust/rust-uni…

j0dev / Rust / Rust UnifiedPush Example Distributor · GitLab

Fake Reference UnifiedPush Distributor

^GitLab

I recently learned that it is super easy to run your own #UnifiedPush server if you already have a #NextCloud:
- Install the UnifiedPush Provider app in the NextCloud
- Install NextPush for Android f-droid.org/en/packages/org.un…

Took me like 5 min and now my #Tusky push notifications go through my own server, how cool is that

NextPush | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

UnifiedPush provider with Nextcloud

^f-droid.org

I was surprised at my phone ringing last night, until I realised I got a real non-test push notification from the experimental fork of Nextcloud made by Niklas Reimer. It uses @unifiedpush in the #foss and @fdroidorg compatible version of Nextcloud, and notifications don't go through Google Services or the Nextcloud Push gateway.

Something very exciting is coming!

#foss #pushnotification #UnifiedPush #android #Nextcloud #ntfy #fdroid

#Conversations 2.12.0 is now a #UnifiedPush distributor! Check out how to set it up here:

unifiedpush.org/users/distribu…

youtube.com/watch?v=wKTk6XGMp3…

Thanks @daniel @mattj!

Conversations acting as a UnifiedPush Distributor

The Android XMPP client Conversations.im can now act as a UnfiedPush¹ Distributor. This means apps like Tusky can use XMPP as a transport for their push mess...

^YouTube

#UnifiedPush using #xmpp #Conversations

Now #fluffychat (#matrix) gets notifications instantly (using conversations.im server)

Just set what XMPP account (in any server) will get notified and share it in your device

unifiedpush.org/users/distribu…

Free/Open source FTW!!

APPS with UP service: unifiedpush.org/users/apps/

(you can set what server will manage the service, eventually: your own)

This evening I pushed a #Prosody community module that acts as a #UnifiedPush server. It allows apps on your phone to receive push notifications, using #XMPP as the delivery channel instead of Google's proprietary FCM or regular polling.

It uses a protocol devised and implemented by @daniel and all credit goes to him for this idea and first implementations.

It's all experimental stuff, but I'm already using it to get realtime notifications in #Fedilab 🙂

modules.prosody.im/mod_unified…

We just published a guest blog post on F-Droid!

You can find it here: f-droid.org/fr/2022/12/18/unif…

Thanks @fdroidorg !

#UnifiedPush #FDroid

UnifiedPush: a decentralized, open-source push notification protocol | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

A modern Android smartphone relies on a lot of services, from app stores and calendars to messaging and push notifications. Most of them have open alternativ...

^f-droid.org

Are you a #signalapp user interested in #UnifiedPush? We have recently opened a pull request to add UnifiedPush support to #Molly, a Signal fork. If you want to help out, we are looking for testers! Keep in mind that you will need a server to run the binary.

For more information, see the links below:

- github.com/mollyim/mollyim-and…
- github.com/MollySocket/mollyso…

GitHub - MollySocket/mollysocket: MollySocket allows getting signal notifications via UnifiedPush.

MollySocket allows getting signal notifications via UnifiedPush. - GitHub - MollySocket/mollysocket: MollySocket allows getting signal notifications via UnifiedPush.

^GitHub

SmallTalk is a minimal, modern, friends and family focused Android messenger. Heavily inspired by Whatsapp and Signal, powered by Matrix.

Its goals are to be reliable and stable, and have a tiny app size.

It recently started supporting UnifiedPush, and publishing beta releases on Google Play: play.google.com/store/apps/det…
And the IzzySoft F-Droid repo: apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/a…

You can find out more about it at github.com/ouchadam/small-talk

#matrix #messenger #chat #android #app #UnifiedPush #smalltalk

„SmallTalk“ – IzzyOnDroid F-Droid Repository

Minimal Android messenger powered by Matrix

^{IzzyOnDroid App Repo}

If you're new to UnifiedPush, the easiest way to get started is to install the 'ntfy' app (available on #fdroid and #googleplaystore) and open it once.

Then, any apps that support UnifiedPush ( unifiedpush.org/users/apps/ ) will be able to use UnifiedPush once the apps are restarted!

For more information regarding other distributor choices and self-hosting options, see unifiedpush.org/users/distribu…

#UnifiedPush #ntfy

UnifiedPush is a set of specifications and free open source tools to help users get more control over how their phone's (or computers's) notifications are handled. You can follow the project at:

➡️ @unifiedpush

The project website is at unifiedpush.org

There are options for self-hosting notification systems if needed.

#UnifiedPush #Notifications #PushNotifications #FOSS #FLOSS #Libre #FreeSoftware #OpenSource #Smartphones #Phones #Smartphone #Phone #Dev #SelfHosting #Computing

The last version of #ntfy is a #unifiedpush distributor ! It will soon reach the @fdroidorg store. It is easy to use - just install it - and easy to self-host if you want to.

More info at ntfy.sh

#fdroid