Matrix was built to become the open communication of the web and serve everyone. But, as the Internet and email did, its network effect started with governments. Today, and as proven by the audience in the room, most European governments and several others are either using it or looking at implementing it for their communications. This talk will tell the story of how we got there and why.
I would be very happy with a WhatsApp-esque ‘scan this QR code and be done’
There is a QR login feature in the Matrix spec, but far from every client/server supports it. IIRC it works in reverse, where the logged-in session shows the QR code. I’m actually in favor of this choice, as it means the user shouldn’t need to specify the homeserver address on the new client. I believe this doesn’t transfer your private key, though, meaning you would still have to enter your recovery key, recovery passphrase or go through the emoji thing. I could be wrong about any of this, it’s been a long time since I’ve last tried the QR login.
To me it feels like there’s a lot more friction than with WhatsApp or Signal, but to be frankly honest, I don’t really know how to solve the problem either.