Hi everyone!

Welcome to the latest edition of your pseudo-monthly JMP update!

In case it’s been a while since you checked out JMP, here’s a refresher: JMP lets you send and receive text and picture messages (and calls) through a real phone number right from your computer, tablet, phone, or anything else that has a Jabber client.  Among other things, JMP has these features: Your phone number on every device; Multiple phone numbers, one app; Free as in Freedom; Share one number with multiple people.

This month we released Cheogram Android 2.12.1-1 which includes several new features.  One of the big ones is an interface for having threaded conversations with other Jabber users (watch the demo video).  This feature will also make it easier to reply to the right message if you use the email gateway.  The app has grown support for more media features, including an ability to show an image right away if you already have it, without waiting for a download, and blurhash based placeholders for images from MMS you have not yet downloaded.

There is also a new user experience when receiving group texts that will actually show the sender’s name (and even avatar, if you have one set for them locally) the same way as any other group chat in the app.  This is made possible by a new draft protocol extension we adopted for part of the purpose.

This version is based on the latest 2.12.1 from upstream, which among other things has added the ability to function as a Unified Push distributor, so if you use any compatible app you may want to check that out.

For the JMP service, this month we shipped the ability to make top-up payments using XMR or ETH directly from the top up command.  This simplifies the flow for users of those currencies, and we hope you will find it useful.  Integrating this support into registration is also coming, but not ready quite yet.

If you are planning to be at FOSDEM 2023, be sure to check out the realtime lounge in with the other stands.  Unfortunately no one from JMP will be there this year, but people from Snikket and other projects around the ecosystem will be present.

To learn what’s happening with JMP between newsletters, here are some ways you can find out:

• The chatroom remains the heart of the community.  You can also join from your web browser or from Matrix.
• The blog, where you may be reading this. Can also be followed in a client like Movim.
• The Lemmy Community
• The Subreddit
• On Twitter

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful rest of your week!