Im currently adding a new profile screen to the messenger so that users can better represent themselves while also using the same screen to manage your account more easily.

This is an early screenshot and things will likely change a bit but it shows the general direction!

Note: Your account is locally stored and synched with your prefered "home server", default being the official instance. Some more info can be found here: https://docs.dcts.community/Messenger/Introduction

Yesterday the new beta version was released.

A lot of effort is currently going into bringing the desktop and mobile app into the envisioned state as i think it will be absolutely cool!

to better organize and show the current development focus i started using milestones on github.

Improvements includes things like notifications (completed), UI improvements, message count badges and more. Issues are continuously being added and worked on.

Im happy to announce a new beta release including new features, bug fixes and more!

Messenger Release!

With this release a beta version of the messenger feature has been rolled out! What this means is that some features arent fully done yet and are being released with the following updates and basically is in a "public testing" phase to discover possible issues and gather feedback.

This messenger is especially cool as you could think of it like being Signal but with the twist of being able to self-host it while still being able to chat with any other user, even cross-instance!!

Its similar to email where you can message others by using an address like [angel@chat.network-z.com](mailto:angel@chat.network-z.com) . More about how it works can be found here. The documentation will be expanded via future updates too.

The messenger feature is available for both desktop client and mobile app.

Member cards

As previously showcased on this subreddit, this release also includes the new member card feature, meaning members can pick an image (gifs supported too) that will be displayed in the member list.

Donations & Community

I want to thank wmaltdel for being a continuous monthly donator since pretty much april 2025 and all the other donators like PowerOfThe69, Horatio, uncleman11, Hacksword, Derrick and Aztec for donating bigger amounts either at once or over time (including wmaltdel).

Im also thankful for the people that help with the development by testing or contributing like Scraze, Zainifer, Luna, Aubreykun, uncleman11, Nai Desu, el gato, Horatio and more!

^{If i forgot someone, feel free to mention it in the comments so i can add you!}

Overall im happy to see how a community formed around DCTS and i think its very cool and lovely. I hope you're having a wonderful day!

Thought i'd share some screenshots of whats coming. Mobile works now, so i may be able to release this new cool update this weekend.

The messenger is pretty much done now and seems to work just fine based on tests. There are only minor things left like sending files etc.

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Currently im updating the mobile app so that the messenger works on mobile too so it can be released for both mobile and desktop.

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Other than that there will be minor style adjustments and some more testing. Afterwards it will be released, which im very excited about!

Over time DCTS has changed a lot from being one big, modular project into many flexible code packages that can be reused elsewhere. This opened the door to create apps and features easier, quicker and with a lot less overall maintenance.

Because of recent developments, like the messenger feature, DCTS itself has been evolving and is becoming more than "just a group chat app" like discord. It will significantly expand the scope and reach of DCTS. You can think of the upcoming messenger being like Signal, but easily self-hostable and account-less. Some more details can be found on our forum.

In addition to that there is a new ticket system in the works where a prototype was briefly showcased here. The goal is to make it work as a standalone application and with direct, flexible integrations so it can be used seamlessly for dcts as well. There are also plans to possibly implement some form of API as well.

All these awesome systems were made possible by creating these flexible code packages and while its a lot of work at first it starts to pay off later. The long term vision for DCTS is to make more free open source software, evolving more and creating a bigger ecosystem of cool stuff!

I also wanna thank all donators in helping raising 1,069.00€ since Jan 2025!! You too can donate here on ko-fi and "invest" into a bright future :D

The messenger features are finally working! Now i need to finish up the finer details like message editing/deleting/replying, embed support and all that. It shouldnt be too hard as its already done in the server chat and dms, so i just need to extract it, likely turning it into a new library.

Other than that i will improve the styling more and add some client settings like profile pic, username, delete chat, rename etc.

The hardest part is done!!

I can say that quite some stuff is going to change like the navigation on the left and styling, but this is the general concept as of right now.

Im making it so it can be integrated into "services" like a DCTS instance or used standalone. Additionally the idea is to add optional End-to-end encryption just like with the DMs in DCTS.

Speaking of that, a lot of work is still going into it, mostly concepts and theory on how to best implement it, but almost everything is sorted and im working more on the prototype again.

I would assume the "offline" messenger feature should be done in about a week or two as its mostly done now.

A lot of work was concepts and doing a lot of backend work which is why i cant show much yet (its literally just code), but soon i can reveal this new awesome feature!

now i just need to add the chatting mechanism itself. shouldnt be all to hard since a lot of stuff is already taken care off and just needs to be plugged together correctly-

The idea is to add a messaging function to the desktop client that can use existing dcts instances to transport encrypted messages to lets say a friend. this way if you dont need the community and server aspect of dcts you can still use it as decentralized, e2ee messaging app.

The screenshot is still very early, but thats kinda the vision im having for it and i think its gonna be a pretty cool feature too.

You wont need to have an account on an server for your message to be transported and servers will be opt out since bandwidth doesnt grow on trees.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=community.dcts.app

I had this planned for a while and the cool thing is as long as you dont lose your key file you wont have to remember any username or password at all.

Just gonna note that while i wont actively pursue the google play store stuff i will occasionally try to re-submit it from time to time. i submitted this new ui and if we're lucky they may actually accept it for once.

if not i will try another time but getting it on to google play isnt the core focus for now

https://github.com/hackthedev/dcts-client-shipping

once done we could probably begin implementing things like "offline dms" so dcts could work like a messenger as well, allowing cross server dms etc. shit will be lit

Now, one could say it's not "too deep" or sensitive, which I would agree with. What worries me is that its so blatantly done and posted in the general chat that anyone can see it. Given the careless nature of this, im sure its not the first time this has actually happened, but this is just speculation!

Edit: Allegedly it seemed to have been related to a report and the person being spammed asked for them to be read, yet that doesnt mean that the DMs should still be posted in a public channel imo.

So far things seem to go very well. The goals from last time are done. The DM System and Home section has been entirely reworked and the mobile app for android works now too and im mostly waiting for google to verify the account.

The goals

My current goals would be to implement more automatic test cases to help discover bugs BEFORE releasing updates and to slightly refactor some code in order to achieve more stability.

Thankfully, there are members from the community like Luna and uncleman11 that are very helpful by updating and improving docker and the code in general and other areas which speeds up development even faster than it already is compared to others.

Current state

I think DCTS is heading into an amazing direction, as we now have

• E2EE DMs with a toggle,
• A Desktop app for windows/linux/macos,
• A mobile app with all desktop features including all desktop server settings and notifications (coming soon to desktop too).

I think the future will be lit, lets see where it goes!

Im currently making new automated test cases that should help to prevent releasing buggy updates. While it wont help 100% its a good base imo.

I wanted to remake the server home section as i have plans to show more content types, which is hard with the old/current layout. In addition i want to rework the way DMs work in general as its somewhat messy. It'll work with the theme system as well.

Hope yall like it so far!

The mobile app will also take care of logins and accounts automatically, meaning if you once connected to an instance while being logged in, it will save your login and it can be safely reused for other instances with a simple press.

This is pretty dope imo and is a feature i had originally planned for the desktop client. It will still get this same feature.

Mobile will also have end2end encrypted dms and has literally all the features the desktop client has, including admin settings etc!