TextSecure vs Element (formerly Riot)

Uses Curve25519, AES-256, and HMAC-SHA256. The security of these algorithms has been tested over many years of use in hundreds of different applications. Messages sent via TextSecure are end-to-end encrypted, which means that they can only be read by your intended recipients. We make it easy for you to verify that you are communicating with the right people and that no MITM attack has occurred. The keys that are used to encrypt your messages are stored on your device alone, and they are protected by an additional layer of encryption if you have a passphrase enabled.

TextSecure is free and open source, enabling anyone to verify its security by auditing the code. TextSecure is the only private messenger that uses open source peer-reviewed cryptographic protocols to keep your messages safe.

To pass EFF's security review TextSecure had to encrypt data in transit, the encryption had to be end-to-end, the app needed to provide forward secrecy, app's source code has to be open to independent review, users have to be able to verify contact's identities even with the service provider compromised, app's cryptographic design has to be well documented and app's source code has to have been audited in the last 12 months.

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.

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.

Code snippets in chats can be highlighted with Markdown.

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

Web browser
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Android
iOS

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

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