It’s been several months since Vector made its debut. I was able to get hold of JSKitty, the developer behind the budding privacy-centric messaging app. Join me in this exclusive interview as I pick his brain on the progress of the app, upcoming upgrades, and the general regulatory landscape for privacy projects.
A lot has changed since the launch in February. Could you provide an update on Vector’s progress? Are you on track to meet your initial milestones, and what is the biggest unforeseen challenge you’ve encountered?
We’re completely on track, so far! By the end of the year, I’m aiming to have full and stable encrypted Group Chats, significant customisation upgrades (custom emojis, stickers, gifs, etc), and ideally, smoothed cross-OS support.
I’d say the biggest challenge has been cross-OS support; it is incredibly difficult, especially as the solo per-platform developer, to ensure Vector is stable and fully functional on every single OS. It’s a work in progress, but over time, I hope to get the experience smooth and equal on every platform.
One of your early goals was to see Vector become the new Telegram. Do you think your app has the potential to compete against the likes of Telegram? Is Vector really the new Telegram?
As long as we keep hitting feature goals, catching up slowly to Telegram and Discord’s feature set, I firmly believe we can become real competition. As it stands, Vector is still deeply in the Beta phase, and will be for another year at minimum. So right now, I would absolutely not compare us to Telegram (aside from the stance of Privacy — where Vector far exceeds it already), but with time, sweat and blood, I’m determined to create solid competition against the mainstream giants.
Telegram is known for its channel and group features, which have become central to many communities. How does Vector’s architecture handle large-scale, decentralized group chats without sacrificing performance or privacy?
Vector Encrypted Group Chats will be based on the MLS Protocol, which scales logarithmically at O (log n) with full ratchet-based encryption. In short, Vector Groups in the future will be able to scale to thousands of members in individual groups, without sacrificing encryption.
Of course, encryption at that scale makes less sense, since the more members you add, the more likely someone will ‘snitch’ — but Vector will offer that scalability regardless, because it’s better to build for the future than to limit our users.
Regulation is a growing concern for all tech platforms. How is the Vector team preparing for potential legislative action, such as the EARN IT Act or similar bills, that could mandate backdoors or data access?
Regulations are one of the scariest topics in the privacy sector, especially with how fast-moving it is. Europe, the UK, the US, and a series of other countries all have their own looming legislation, to the extent that I truly cannot keep up with them. That said, my goal will never change.
Vector’s source will always remain open, and the protocol, by design, cannot be censored. Even in the case of “app distribution-level” state censorship, Vector download can remain accessible to those who would otherwise be blocked from it.
When the question comes to the EU’s “screen scanning” regulation called Chat Control, I do not yet have an answer. Sadly, this is the harshest regulation I have seen, and I’m grinding my brain on solutions. Time will tell how we work around the regime.
Many privacy-focused apps struggle with user adoption due to a perceived lack of features compared to centralized services. What is your strategy for adding compelling features that will attract a wider user base without compromising the core privacy principles?
I completely agree on that struggle, as someone who has “bounced around” more than a dozen privacy chat apps, and always been frustrated at the lack of simple UX and features. I’m keeping the “fun, fulfilling” sense of the app in mind.
Our last upgrades there were for the Profile Expansion and Badge System, with the next upgrade being Custom Emojis, stickers and gifs — Bots — Mini-apps, and more.
Looking ahead, what is your team’s top development priority for the next six months? Is it user experience, enhanced security features, or something else entirely?
The next 6 months are solidly on the roadmap for stability, UX, and features. Vector still has far to go to become fully stable, and as such, it’s the highest priority. As Vector feels smooth enough, we add more features, rinse and repeat.
What is your personal vision for the future of private communication? Do you believe fully decentralized, encrypted messengers like Vector will eventually replace mainstream, centralized platforms?
My goal is, in an ideal world, a full quiet replacement. If Vector could be made as “simple,” if not more simple than traditional platforms, while maintaining its core security values, then we’d be primed in the market to keep growing.
In reality, and sadly, humanity fundamentally never quite seems to learn these lessons, so most likely, there will always be a handful of “giants” that control the global communication market. If Vector can take even a slice of that and provide true safety to the families and friends that use it, then I am happy enough, and my task is done.
From a monetization perspective, how does the team plan to sustain development and server costs without resorting to ads or selling user data?
Fortunately, Vector’s design means that we have minimal expenses. There are over a thousand community Nostr Relays, and dozens of media servers.
We are contemplating further funding for the purpose of marketing and community growth, but aside from that, I am not too concerned about costs. If the time came that funding was necessary, there are foundational funds explicitly designed for apps like Vector that would likely grant us funding, such as FUTO, the OpenSats Nostr Fund, and further ‘Privacy Advocate Funds’.
Written by Clement Saudu
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