Steam Chat vs Element (formerly Riot)

Now you can create and send links that will invite people directly into your group chat. Email, message, or text the link for them to join from the Steam Client or a web browser.

Steam has a fully-featured mobile client support for Android and iOS, which makes it very easy to check in on the app and communicate while on the go.

When you are using someone else's computer for playing games Steam is normally installed

Every chat on Steam is now multi-media friendly. Getting your point across is easier than ever, now that everyone can see your GIFs inline rather than a list of links. Paste a picture from the clipboard and upload it directly to the chat.

Want to bring someone into a conversation? Just drag and drop your friends from the Friends List to send them an invite.

All of these features have been built to work not only in the Steam client, but also on the web. So you can continue conversations when you have access to a web browser but you're not logged in to the Steam client.

Put up a server instantly, add channels and invite!

Your in-game friends are now grouped by the game they're playing, making it easier to join them, or to see which games are popular among friends. And see who's playing together. You can watch friends enter into a match and then emerge when their game is over. Be ready to dive in with them or to play when they're done.

You're not confined within Element's or even Matrix garden, and you don't have to make users of other networks switch to Matrix.

Code snippets in chats can be highlighted with Markdown.

Element has a very simple interface, adding the ability for more inexperienced users to use it.

Element allows for fully encrypted text, voice, and video chatting.

Want to watch that flick at YouTube and discuss it at the same time? Have Grafana graphs stacked above your DevOps team chat? Collaboratively edit Google Docs and chat over without switching applications? This is possible with Element.

An open network for secure, decentralized communication.

Search messages in your current room, or all the rooms you're in. Not subject to a message history limit like Slack.

Web browser
Linux
OS X
Windows
Android
iOS

With public rooms for many people, and you can create your own and let people from the community join.

An easy to activate integration that allows multiple authors to edit a document simultaneously.