Monal (iOS/MacOS)

- Reading time: 2 Minuten -

Foreword

This is about installing, setting up and using the XMPP messenger Monal. Monal offers the possibility to use a Jabber (XMPP) chat account on Apple devices. Like many other clients, Monal is developed as open source software by volunteers and the project can be supported with donations or development contracts. Monal is available for both iOS and MacOS. At least iOS12 is required for smartphones.

Installation

The installation is carried out via the Apple App Store (external)

Instructions

There are good instructions for users on the eversten.net (external) page. This site also has very good videos (external) on how to set up and use the app:

Recommendations for users: https://github.com/monal-im/monal/wiki/Considerations-for-XMPP-users (external)
Recommendations for server administrators: monal-im (external)

Security

Radically Open Security (ROS) conducted a security review of some parts of Monal on 15.04.2024. In particular, they checked the use of the XML query language and the implementations of SASL2, SCRAM and SSDP. The results in brief: No security issues were found.

Announcement: https://monal-im.org/post/00011-security-audit-1 (external)
Security audit: Monal IM penetration test report 2024 1.0 (external)

Tips

Editing the last message for spelling corrections is possible as follows:
-> Simply swipe the message to the left to access the corresponding menu.

Telephony in China

The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has demanded that the CallKit functionality be deactivated in all apps available in the Chinese App Store. Therefore, telephony is not activated in Monal in China.

Since Monal uses localization to check whether the phone icon is displayed or not for legally compliant use, according to user reports, the call icon can be displayed in Monal by simply switching the region in iOS.

Sources:
https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/103083
https://www.phonearena.com/news/Apple-told-by-China-to-remove-CallKit_id105049

Pro tip

If you want to help with further development and troubleshooting, you can activate a hidden option to access the log files required for this: In the settings menu > 16, tap the version number of the app once so that the menu item “Settings / Debug” becomes visible.

Detailed instructions: https://github.com/monal-im/Monal/wiki/Introduction-to-Monal-Logging (external; English)

FAQ

  • What does “online” and “offline” mean in Monal?
  • Why is a feature/UI not implemented or a bug fixed?
  • Monal is slow and unresponsive when I connect to my existing account for the first time!
  • How to export a log file?
  • Why does Monal not allow self-signed or expired certificates?
  • How do I delete all messages for a contact or group chat (MUC)?
  • How do I delete a contact?
  • How to remove a group chat or channel (MUC)?
  • How do I add a new group chat / channel (MUC) or user / JID to my contact list?

Answers to the above questions can be found in the “FAQ” (external).

Note: Found better/more up-to-date instructions on the net? Then I would be pleased about a short information: >>contact<<_

Other

A comparison of different Apple clients can be found >> here <<.

Project page: https://monal-im.org (external)
Current Release Notes (external)
Wiki: GitHub (external)