briar-announce Mailing List for Briar

Hi all,

I'm pleased to announce the release of Briar Mailbox, a helper app for 
Briar messenger that lets you receive encrypted messages from your 
contacts while Briar is offline. Next time Briar comes online it will 
automatically fetch the messages from your Mailbox.

Likewise, you can send encrypted messages to contacts who are offline, 
and the messages will be delivered automatically when your contacts come 
online.

To set up a Mailbox, simply install the Mailbox app on a spare Android 
device, link it with your Briar account by scanning a QR code, and leave 
the Mailbox device connected to power and Wi-Fi.

Thanks to eQualitie for supporting the development of Briar Mailbox.

https://briarproject.org/news/2023-briar-mailbox-released/

Cheers,
Michael

Hi all,

I'm excited to announce a new beta release of Briar Desktop for Linux 
and Windows. As well as adding Windows to the list of supported 
platforms, this release adds support for forums.

You can read the full release announcement here:

https://briarproject.org/news/2023-briar-desktop-0.4.0-released

This release was developed by Mikolia, Mo, Sebastian and Torsten, with 
support from the NLnet Foundation.

Cheers,
Michael

Hi everyone,

I'm happy to announce that Briar 1.4 for Android is now available. This 
release adds two new features for communicating offline.

https://briarproject.org/news/2021-briar-1.4-released

First of all, users can now share the app offline. Prior to this 
release, the only way to get the app was to to download it from the 
internet. Now it's also possible to share the app offline using a local 
Wi-Fi hotspot that provides a website where others can download the app 
without an internet connection. This feature might be useful during 
internet shutdowns or natural disasters. A single device with Briar 
installed can share the app to bootstrap Briar connectivity in a community.

This release also adds a way to exchange encrypted messages using 
removable drives. Messages transported via removable drives appear in 
the app just like they would if delivered via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or Tor.

Another feature we want to mention, even though it was released a while 
back in Briar 1.3.8, is a new way of connecting via Bluetooth. Recent 
versions of Android limit access to Bluetooth for privacy reasons, so 
Briar can’t connect via Bluetooth automatically on newer Android 
devices. We’ve added a “Connect via Bluetooth” feature that can be used 
to make a Bluetooth connection between two devices for the first time. 
After the first connection has been made using this feature, subsequent 
connections are automatic.

You can install the app via Google Play, F-Droid, or direct download. 
Please see the website for details:

https://briarproject.org/download

These features were developed with support from eQualit.ie. Thank you to 
everyone who worked on this release.

As always, please let us know what you think by sending your feedback to 
co...@br..., @BriarApp on Twitter, or anonymously via the app.

Cheers,
Michael

Hi everyone,

I'm happy to announce that Briar 1.3 for Android is now available. This 
release adds support for three major new features: image attachments, 
profile images and disappearing messages.

https://briarproject.org/news/2021-briar-1.3-released

You can install the app via Google Play, F-Droid, or direct download.
Please see the website for details:

https://briarproject.org/download

Thank you to everyone who worked on this release.

As always, please let us know what you think of this release by sending
your feedback to co...@br..., @BriarApp on Twitter, or
anonymously via the app.

Cheers,
Michael

Hi all,

I'm excited to let you know that Nico Alt has made the first beta
release of Briar GTK, a desktop app for Briar. It currently runs on
Linux, and support for Windows and macOS is planned. Please see Nico's
blog for more information:

https://nico.dorfbrunnen.eu/posts/2020/briar-beta/

Cheers,
Michael

Hi everyone,

I'm very pleased to announce that Briar 1.2 for Android is now
available. This release makes it possible to add contacts by exchanging
links, without meeting in person.

You can install the app via Google Play, F-Droid, or direct download.
Please see the website for details:

https://briarproject.org/

Thank you to everyone who worked on this release, especially Torsten,
Elio, Renata and Erin.

As always, please let us know what you think of this release by sending
your feedback to co...@br..., @BriarApp on Twitter, or
anonymously via the app.

Cheers,
Michael

Hi everyone,

I'm pleased to announce that Briar 1.1 for Android has been released!

This release includes several new features:
* Dark theme
* New look for private conversations
* Lock the app without signing out
* Sign-in reminder after restarting phone or upgrading app
* Support for Tor bridges
* Support for using Tor with a VPN in countries that block bridges
* Updated emoji, including skin tone modifiers
* Updated translations

You can install the app via Google Play, F-Droid, or direct download.
Please see the website for details:

https://briarproject.org/download.html

Thank you to everyone who worked on this release, especially Torsten,
who wrote most of the code, and Erin, who coordinated the translations.

We're already working on further improvements, including longer battery
life, adding contacts without meeting in person, and image attachments.

We'd love to hear your thoughts about this release. Please send your
feedback to co...@br..., @BriarApp on Twitter, or
anonymously via the app.

Cheers,
Michael

--
PGP key: https://briarproject.org/keys/michael.asc

Hi everyone,

I'm pleased to announce that Briar 1.0 for Android has been released!

Briar is a messaging app designed for activists, journalists, and anyone
who needs a safe, easy and robust way to communicate.

You can install the app via Google Play, F-Droid, or direct download.
Please see the website for details:

https://briarproject.org/download.html

Thank you to everyone who has worked on and supported this project,
especially the people who tested the beta releases. We've fixed a lot of
bugs thanks to your feedback.

We'd love to hear your thoughts about this release and what features we
should work on next. Please send your feedback to
co...@br..., @BriarApp on Twitter, or anonymously via the app.

Cheers,
Michael

--
PGP key: https://briarproject.org/keys/michael.asc

Hi all,

I'm pleased to announce that a release candidate for Briar 1.0 is now
available. This release will become Briar 1.0 on Wednesday unless any
serious bugs are found.

The app can be installed via Google Play, F-Droid, or direct download.
Please see the website for details:

https://briarproject.org/download.html

Thank you to everyone who tested the beta releases. We've fixed a lot of
bugs thanks to your feedback, and the features we'll be working on over
the next six months will also be based on that feedback.

Cheers,
Michael

Hi everyone,

I'm pleased to announce the first public beta release of Briar for
Android. Briar is a messaging app designed for activists, journalists,
and anyone else who needs a safe, easy and robust way to communicate.
You can download it from Google Play:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.briarproject.briar.beta

If you prefer not to use Google Play, the manual has instructions for
downloading the app from our website:

https://briarproject.org/manual

This release includes private messaging, forums, blogs and RSS import.
We'd love to hear your feedback on these features, as well as any others
you'd like to see. Please feel free to send your feedback to
co...@br..., or anonymously via the app.

The beta will expire on 21 October. When it expires, your contacts and
messages will be lost. The expiry period is designed to limit the impact
of any security issues and allow us to make incompatible changes before
the 1.0 release.

I hope you enjoy testing Briar!

Cheers,
Michael