element-android

Element Android is a messaging and collaboration app for Android devices. It connects to the Matrix network, which is an open standard for decentralized communication, meaning your messages are not locked into any single company's servers. The app lets you join rooms, send messages, and collaborate with others across any Matrix-compatible server.

This repository contains the older, classic version of the app, sometimes called Element Classic. The README is clear that this version still receives security updates but no longer gets new features or usability improvements. The team recommends that new users install Element X instead, which is the newer next-generation version with ongoing feature development.

The app runs on any Android device with Android 5.0 (Lollipop, API level 21) or newer. It is available through the Google Play Store and through F-Droid, an alternative app store that only distributes open-source software. Because F-Droid builds the app from source code itself to verify it matches what is published, releases there typically appear a day or more after the Google Play version.

The codebase also contains a Matrix Android SDK that is extracted into a separate repository with each release, so other developers can build their own Matrix-compatible apps on top of it without forking Element directly.

The software is dual-licensed. You can use it for free under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3, or under a paid commercial license from New Vector Ltd, the company behind Element. Contributors are welcome, and the README points to contributor documentation and a Matrix chat room where the developer community is active.