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What's the most secure XMPP client for Android right now?

Open source would be strongly preferred. My list for security includes:

  • easy OTR support
  • sensible configuration out-of-the-box, so a novice user will be reasonably secure
  • out, about, tested and prodded for a while and low chance of unfixed bugs that are security relevant

... But there are folks who are far more knowledgeable about security and maybe have a better bucket list.

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Conversations

It supports OTR and OpenPGP for encryption. OTR is very quick to get going.

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    I would also say that there is no such thing as a secure non-open-source anything-client.
    – Turion
    Mar 6, 2015 at 15:48
  • Does that mean Conversations is closed source? I'm unfamiliar with it
    – Xen2050
    Mar 31, 2016 at 14:42
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    @Xen2050, no, Conversations is open source and believed to be secure.
    – Turion
    Mar 31, 2016 at 16:04
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  • Jitsi advertises "secured video calls, conferencing, chat, desktop sharing, file transfer, support for your favorite OS and IM network."

    It supports protocols including SIP, GoogleTalk, XMPP (Jabber), Facebook (via XMPP), .NET Messenger Service (commonly known as MSN or Windows Live Messenger), Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, ICQ.

    And has these Security features:

    • Encrypted password storage
    • Password protection with a master password
    • Encrypted Instant Messaging with Off-the-Record Messaging (OTRv4)
    • Chat authentication with the Socialist Millionaire Protocol over OTR
    • Call encryption with SRTP and ZRTP for XMPP and SIP
    • Call encryption with SRTP and SDES for XMPP and SIP
    • DNSSEC support
    • TLS support and certificate-based client authentication for SIP and XMPP


    It's available for Windows, Mac, Linux & Android. There's also a Jitsi Meet video conferencing version for Android & iPhone, the Android version is currently on Google's Play store under Jitsi Meet. Or the Jitsi Nightly builds (Experimental, for fearless alpha warriors only!) for Android are here (from the main webpage's Downloads link)

  • ChatSecure is open source & handles OTR well. It was available for Android and iPhone, but now the Android version is no longer supported:

    The developers of the Android version [...] are no longer maintaining the upstream version. If you still use ChatSecure Android you should migrate to another app immediately. For a similar user experience and the best compatibility with the latest features of ChatSecure iOS, we recommend downloading Conversations.

    It's been forked to Zom-Android, see the ChatSecure FAQ for more info. ChatSecure is:

    ChatSecure is a free and open source messaging app that features OTR encryption over XMPP. You can connect to your existing accounts on Facebook or Google, create new accounts on public XMPP servers (including via Tor ), or even connect to your own server for extra security.

    Unlike other apps that keep you stuck in their walled garden, ChatSecure is fully interoperable with other clients that support OTR and XMPP, such as Adium , Jitsi , and more.

Also see F-Droid for "an installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform. The client makes it easy to browse, install, and keep track of updates on your device." It's really good, and very similar to other Linux software repositories, but for FOSS Android programs.

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