Movim (https://movim.eu) is a Free Software project based on a worldwide network called Xmpp. With Movim, you will get an identity that looks like purplesky@movim.eu. It federates (connects) you with other social networks & instant messengers and it is web based everyone can access, to give you the differences with the alternatives. You can think Movim as an alternative to WhatsApp, as well as an alternative to Twitter or Blogspot if you want. You do not need to install any application and you can access it on your phone as well. Movim relies on donation and you can help fund it to support its development.

About Xmpp

Once you read about Movim, immediately you will find about Xmpp. It is Jabber, also known as Xmpp, a secure, decentralized, and federated technology everyone can use to chat online existed strongly since 1990's. To give you how great Xmpp network is, actually when you use WhatsApp you use Xmpp, so does with Google Talk and Jitsi, so when you use those you are using Xmpp. To give you a few of its benefits, Xmpp is not controlled by a single company (so unlike Twitter) it is hard to shut down by anyone.

Below is the basics guide to start Movim.

1. Registration

• Go to movim.eu then click Try It then click Mov.im choice to register. 
• Alternatively, just go to https://mov.im instead and register.
• Once registered, you will have a Movim username that looks like purplesky@movim.eu.

 

2. Login

• Go to www.movim.eu then click Try it then login with your Movim account.
• Alternatively, you can login with Xmpp accounts if you have one.
• Once logged in, you will see a welcome message on Movim. 

This is your first time discovering Movim, congratulations!

 

 

To understand Movim user interface, learn from picture above the left - middle - right area:

3. Invite your friends 

• Give this tutorial to your friend.
• To share a group, copy group link and send it to your friends. 
• To share a channel, do the same as with group.

 

4. Find Friends 

• You can find me as purplesky@movim.eu at Movim. Feel free to say hello!
• Go to EXPLORE page.
  
• Ask people their Xmpp accounts.

Basically to get new friends, you go to EXPLORE or CHATS page. Below is the explanation. 

EXPLORE: click the Compass button and you see a list of current news in the Movim world. From here you see currently popular tags and thoughts from many people. Click a news and you can add the author as friend. 

CHATS: click the Chats button and you see a list of people you can add. To add a new friend, simply click his/her name and click the People+ button.

 

5. Post and Comment

Movim is a weblog platform as well as a social network. You share a post and people comment on it. People can also Like it or Share it to others. You can make a post (just like a 'tweet' or a 'status') which is visible publicly (the world can see) or privately (visible only to Movim users). See this blog post example. This means you are given the Blogspot-like and also Facebook-like capabilities to share stories! 

To write a post, like example below, simply write your thoughts on the post box and send. To like, press Love button. To comment, press Dialog Balloon button. To reshare, press Paper Plane button.

6. Chat

Click a friend to start chatting. You can send text, documents, files, photos and uniquely doodles (drawings) with your friend. Below is a chat between two persons namely purplesun and purplesky. Notice also the Telephone and Camera buttons on top.

7. Groups & Channels

 

• Join a group.
  
• Create new group.
  
• Create new channel.
  
• Invite friends to it.

Movim features groups and channels so you can make your communications better. A group can contain many people to chat to each other under one topic. A channel is your broadcasting tool -- to give news updates to as many as people as you wish. To join one, go to CHAT and click PLUS button and explore chatrooms.

• To create a group, go to CHAT > click PLUS button > select Group Chat > name it > Create > a new group created. 
• To create a channel, go to CHAT > click PLUS button > select Channel > name it > Create > a new channel created. 
• To invite someone else to your group or channel, add their username or send them an invite link. Find your invite link under your Group logo > Add New Member.
  

 

8. Calls

 

Calls are divided to voice - video - screen sharing. 

• To call a friend, simply click the phone button beside his/her name and wait for the acceptance. 
• To call with a video, instead of the phone button, click the camera button and when he/she accepts it both of you will see each other's face. This requires webcams.
  
• To call with screen sharing, that is, your screen appears on his/her screen and vice versa, first do a video call and then click the Screen button and select Entire Screen. 

You can kill webcam by clicking the camera button so the camera got a slash line.

 

8. File Sharing

 

With Movim you can upload photos, screenshots, documents, programs, and any other type of files to your friends. 

 

To share a file, enter a chat > click PLUS button > Upload > a file chooser dialog appears > select one file > Share > the file sent to your friend.

 

 

Summaries

 

We are happy with Movim --the easiest Xmpp chat-- today. To sum up everything, it offers us all:

• Free software & gratis access.
• Friends, group chat and blogging in one place.
  
• Video, voice calls with 2-ways screen sharing.
• Web, desktop and smartphone supports.
  
• Front & back cameras support for phone. 
• and many more!

 

My comments are like the following. I as a Telegram user --who also explore others-- feel Movim is good for most people (casual persons). We all can access Movim completely without phone number (advantage over Telegram) and the use is truly easy (advantage over Element) and the messaging is reliable (advantage over Jami). Some features are not present at the moment but they are acceptable considering it is highly potential thanks to Xmpp as its underlying technology. Finally, in the alternative world, I believe, people who felt satisfied with Mastodon will feel Movim satisfying too. That's all and happy chatting!

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This article is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.