Imagine if your Airtel number could only speak to other Airtel numbers, and you had to get a BSNL SIM card to reach your BSNL contacts? This is the situation with messaging apps like WhatsApp…but it wasn’t always the case. Earlier, people from different chat apps could all communicate with each other.

The Prav project aims to create a community-owned chat app. Instead of one company or person calling the shots, we will register as a cooperative society so every user can take part in the decisions. And by using XMPP, an open chat standard, we will allow people on other XMPP services to talk to their friends on Prav too.

This talk is for anyone who wants to think deeper about the messaging apps they use. The main focus will be on the Prav project, but we will mention other messaging options out there too.