Synapse is software for a Matrix chat network. A public federated homeserver would let people on other servers create accounts and message ours. This community is mixed-age (13–17 and 18+). Strangers on the open internet must not cold-message teens. Element would also be a third app, and we already keep Messages as an in-site PWA — not an App Store / Play Store product.
What you get instead (inside Messages)
- People is the tracker: every member you can message, with online / away / busy / offline.
- Groups are rooms, age-banded 13–17 or 18+ (hosts can join either).
- Accepted one-to-one chats can send a file between two browsers (not stored on the site).
- Server is the host news board, a small file pack (PDF/zip up to 10 MB), and a Big library for zip/video/audio up to 2 GB. Downloads follow the file’s age band. Hosts may only post files they have the right to share — not ripped movies or paid games.
- Voice and video calls are on an accepted one-to-one chat. Both people keep Messages open, tap Allow for mic/camera, and use https://penpal.gaminghq.biz. A ring plays for an incoming call.
- The original two-tone chime is still the new-message sound.
We will not install a public, federated Synapse/Matrix homeserver. A closed, members-only Matrix box is a huge extra stack (Postgres, TURN, Element) and a second identity. If we ever need that, it would be hosts-only and unfederated — not something members install from matrix-org.github.io. Hosts must not upload ripped commercial movies or paid games they do not have the right to share.