At first, XMPP seems to be just another cryptic abbreviation. Behind this, however, is the possibility of communicating with the users of other messengers independently of your own messenger. You can find out exactly what XMPP is all about in this article.
Communicate via XMPP across messenger boundaries
XMPP stands for " Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol ". So it is an expandable message and presence protocol, an official internet standard for communication. Before it became an official standard, the protocol was called Jabber (English for babble, chatter) - but this is now an XMPP service from Cisco. Even so, the name Jabber is still often used as a synonym for XMPP.
XMPP or Jabber can be used as a kind of messenger or chat service that offers a special function: You can communicate directly with users of other chat services without using these other services yourself. The prerequisite is that the other services also use the XMP protocol. E-mails work in a similar way: As a gmx user, you can also exchange e-mails with web.de users..
Two ways to XMPP communication
In order to be able to communicate via the XMPP, there are basically two different ways, either starting with the client or the server . So you can choose an XMPP client such as Conversations (Android), Gajim (Windows) or Dino (Linux). You can find a detailed list of clients on the XMPP server Jabber.de, for example . For the client you then choose one of the various XMPP servers through which your communication should run. You can find a list of servers on the jabber.at server, for example.
With a client such as Gajim (Windows) you can create an account with a user name, server domain and password. To do this, select a server and then set your user name and password. Alternatively, you can register directly with the server of your choice. Whichever path you choose, you only need a username and password to register. You will then receive a Jabber identifier (ID) . If you have selected the server jabber.de, for example, the ID looks like this: [your username] @ jabber.de - this is reminiscent of an e-mail address and works like this. The ID can be used to identify you and to address messages to you.
With the Jabber ID you can log in to a client or create a new XMPP account there. Such a client can also be, for example, a messenger that uses XMPP - such as the chat service of an e-mail provider. The servers of many providers are then connected in the XMPP network and thus enable their users to communicate with one another..
End-to-end encryption with OMEMO
The OMEMO protocol, an extension of XMPP, is often used to encrypt XMPP chats. Your messages are encrypted end-to-end - so even the server operators cannot read them. The classification of heise security shows what the use of OMEMO means for Jabber. XMPP is also an open protocol . Anyone can view it and report errors or even security gaps, which can then be rectified. This increases the security of XMPP.
If you want to find out more about XMPP, you can find a detailed blog entry about XMPP and Client Conversations on the Kuketz blog.