Download APK Element Latest Updates, Data Handling & App Review

I came to Element because I wanted a chat app that did not treat my conversations as a product. I had spent years in group chats where the history lived on someone else’s servers, the export options were thin, and the privacy settings read like a riddle. A friend who runs a small community server suggested I try Element for a week, and I joined their room with low expectations. The first screen made sense at once, the rooms loaded quickly, and by the third day I had moved two group chats over without anyone complaining about the change.

This review looks at Element as it stands now: what the app does, how its Matrix foundation handles your messages, which updates changed the experience recently, and where it still asks for patience. I used it for team chats, a family group, and a large public community room, so the notes below cover quiet one-to-one talks and busy rooms with hundreds of members alike.

What Element is and how Matrix works underneath it

Element is a chat app built on Matrix, an open standard for messaging that works more like email than like a single company’s chat service. Anyone can run a Matrix server, called a homeserver, and people on different homeservers can still talk to each other in the same rooms. That design is the whole point: your account, your rooms, and your message history are not locked to one provider, and you can move between apps that speak Matrix without losing your contacts.

In daily use Element feels like a normal chat app. You send text, photos, voice notes, files, and reactions, you reply in threads, you edit a message after sending it, and you join rooms by link or by searching a directory. Spaces group related rooms together, so a community can keep its general chat, its announcements, and its off-topic room under one roof. The difference from a closed chat app only shows when you look under the surface, and that is where Matrix earns its keep.

Rooms, spaces and direct messages in Element

Rooms are the heart of Element. A room can hold two people or ten thousand, and each one has its own members, settings, and history. Direct messages are simply rooms with one other person, which keeps the model consistent once you learn it. I keep a room for family, a room for a work project, and a space that gathers the rooms for a local club I help run, and switching between them takes one tap from the side panel.

Room settings give the people running a room real control. Admins can set who may join, whether new members need an invite, who can post, and how long messages are kept. Room admins can remove a message or a member without asking a distant support team. That local control suits communities far better than a global report button that may take days to produce an answer.

How federation works in plain language

Federation means servers talk to each other. When I send a message from my homeserver to a room that also has members on three other servers, my server passes the message to each of theirs, and each one keeps its own copy. If one server goes down, the room keeps working for everyone else, and the history is not lost because it lives in more than one place. It is the same idea as email: a Gmail user and an Outlook user can write to each other without either of them joining the other’s service.

The trade-off is that federation can feel slower than a single central service on a bad day, and a room with members on many servers may take a moment longer to sync. In practice I rarely noticed the difference, and the benefit of not depending on one company’s uptime was worth the odd extra second. If a homeserver ever closes, you can move your account and keep talking to the same people, which is something no closed chat app can offer.

Picking a homeserver without overthinking it

New users usually start on the default homeserver Element suggests, and that is a sensible choice for the first month. The larger public servers are well run, easy to join, and fine for everyday chats. Later, if you want more control, you can move to a smaller community server or run your own, and your contacts come with you because Matrix addresses stay portable. Do not let the choice slow you down: pick the suggested server, start chatting, and revisit the decision once you know which rooms you actually use.

End-to-end encryption in Element: what is protected and what is not

Element encrypts private conversations with end-to-end encryption based on the Olm and Megolm protocols, which means only the people in the conversation hold the keys to read it. Messages are scrambled on your phone before they leave it, and they stay scrambled while they pass through every server in between. The homeserver stores the encrypted form so your history can sync to a new device, but it cannot read the content itself. That is the promise that separates Element from chat apps where encryption is optional, partial, or absent.

Encryption is on by default for direct messages and for new private rooms, and you can check the state of any room from its details screen, where a small shield shows whether the conversation is protected. If someone joins a room from an unverified device, Element warns you rather than staying quiet about it. I found those warnings clear rather than alarming, and they taught me to verify a new device the first time I saw one instead of ignoring the prompt for weeks.

Cross-signing and verifying devices in Element

Cross-signing ties your identity to your devices, so Element can tell you whether a message came from a device its owner actually trusts. When I signed in on a new phone, the app asked me to verify it from a device I already trusted, using an emoji comparison or a security key. The process took under a minute, and after that my contacts saw a green check next to my name instead of a warning. It is a small ritual that pays for itself the first time someone tries to impersonate a contact.

Verification also protects group rooms. If a member’s device changes without verification, the room shows a warning so everyone can see that something is different. You can still read and send messages, but the app does not pretend everything is normal. That honesty is better than silent trust, and it matches how careful people already behave in real life when a familiar voice sounds slightly off.

Encrypted backups and key recovery in Element

Your encryption keys need a backup, or a lost phone would mean losing access to your old encrypted messages. Element offers an encrypted key backup protected by a passphrase or a recovery key, and setting it up takes two minutes during your first week. I wrote my recovery key on paper and kept it with my other important records, because a screenshot of it on the same phone it protects would defeat the purpose.

The catch is that the backup is only as safe as the passphrase you choose, so pick one you will remember and do not reuse a password from another service. If you lose both the passphrase and the recovery key, your old encrypted history stays locked, and no support team can open it for you. That is the honest price of real encryption, and it is worth understanding before you need it rather than after.

What to do when a verification prompt appears

Read the prompt before you dismiss it. If it names a device you recognise, verify it from a trusted device and move on. If it names a device you do not recognise, check with the person through another channel before you trust it, and remove the session from your settings if the answer does not add up. A verification prompt is the app doing its job, not a fault to be tapped away.

Data handling in Element: what is collected, kept and controlled by you

Data handling is where Element differs most from mainstream chat apps, because the design gives you answers you can check instead of promises you must take on trust. Your messages live on your homeserver in encrypted form, and the homeserver’s privacy policy, not a single global document, governs how that server treats metadata such as who you talk to and when. You can choose a homeserver whose policy you like, and you can leave one whose policy you do not, which is a choice closed apps never offer.

Element itself collects very little by default. The app does not run ads, does not sell attention, and does not build an advertising profile from your chats. Crash reports and analytics are opt-in where they exist, and you can turn them off in settings without losing any feature. Your contact list stays on your device unless you choose to share it, and the app never needs your phone number to work, which is a genuine difference from chat apps that treat a number as an identity.

What stays on your homeserver and what does not

Your homeserver keeps your account details, your room memberships, and the encrypted copies of your messages so they can sync across your devices. It also keeps the metadata needed to deliver messages, such as which rooms you belong to and when a message was sent. It does not keep the readable content of your encrypted chats, and it cannot hand over what it cannot read. Public rooms are different: anyone who joins can read their history, so treat a public room like a public square and a private room like a closed door.

You can also set how long a room keeps its history. Some rooms keep everything, others delete messages after a set period, and a room admin can choose the retention that fits the group. I run one family room with full history and one project room that trims messages after ninety days, and both choices suit the people in them. Deleting your account removes your data from your homeserver under its policy, and leaving a room removes your future access to it, though copies already synced to other servers follow the rules of those servers.

Privacy controls worth checking on day one

Five minutes in settings on the first day pays for itself for months. Turn off any analytics you do not want, check who can invite you to rooms, review your active sessions and remove any device you no longer use, and set up your encrypted key backup. Then look at the notification settings per room, because a busy community room can drown the quiet direct messages that actually need your attention. I mute large rooms by default and keep mentions on, so I hear about the messages aimed at me and nothing else.

The app also lets you control read receipts, typing indicators, and link previews. Read receipts tell others you have seen a message, and turning them off is a fair choice if you prefer to reply in your own time. Link previews fetch a small summary of a shared link, which is handy but means the server fetching the preview sees the link, so switch it off for links you would rather keep private. Small switches like these are the real privacy settings, not a single grand toggle.

Latest updates to Element and where the app is heading

The biggest recent change is Element X, the rebuilt Android app that replaces the older Element client with a faster codebase built on the Matrix Rust SDK. Element X starts faster, syncs rooms more quickly, and handles large rooms with less stutter than the older app, and it is now the version most new users will meet first. The older Element app still exists for people who need a feature that has not moved over yet, and the two can run side by side while the move completes.

Other recent updates have polished the everyday experience rather than reinventing it. Voice and video calls have become more reliable, with clearer connection states and better handling when a call drops and reconnects. Threads keep side conversations tidy inside busy rooms, message editing and replies work smoothly, and search across rooms has become faster on a normal phone. None of these changes shouts for attention, and together they make the app feel like a tool that is being looked after rather than left alone.

Element X and the newer Android app

Element X is worth trying even if the older app still works for you, because the speed difference shows on the first day. Rooms open faster, the message list scrolls without the small hitches I used to see in rooms with thousands of messages, and switching between rooms feels instant rather than merely quick. Some power features from the older app are still catching up, so check that the tools you rely on have arrived before you delete the old app, and keep both installed for a week while you compare them.

The move to Element X also brings better call quality and a cleaner layout for spaces and rooms. The design is simpler on purpose, with fewer buried menus and a clearer path to the settings that matter. I moved my daily use to Element X after a week of running both, and I kept the older app only until I had confirmed that my key backup and verification carried over cleanly.

Calls, threads and message editing in Element

Calls in Element now run on a modern stack that handles group calls better than the older system did, with a clear view of who is speaking and a simple way to mute or leave. Threads let a reply chain live apart from the main flow of a busy room, so a question about one topic does not drown the conversation about another. Editing a message after sending it shows a small edited mark, and deleting a message removes it for everyone in the room, which is the behaviour most people expect by now.

These features matter because they remove the small frictions that push people back to a closed chat app. A thread that works, a call that connects first time, and an edit that saves an embarrassing typo are not headline features, but they decide whether a group stays or drifts away. Element has reached the point where those basics work without a second thought.

Element compared with the alternatives people actually consider

Element is not the only chat app that talks about privacy, so a fair comparison helps more than a list of claims. ShareChat is a natural next app to try if your priority is social video, live rooms, and regional language content rather than private group chat, because it serves a different need well. Moj covers that need neatly too, with short video and live features aimed at entertainment rather than team discussion. And Chingari is worth a look as well if you want a social app with its own rewards and creator tools, though it is a different kind of product from a Matrix chat client.

The table below compares Element with the messaging apps people most often weigh it against, on the points that matter for a daily chat tool. Element wins on openness and control, Signal wins on simplicity for private one-to-one chats, Telegram wins on large public groups and speed, and WhatsApp wins on the size of its existing user base. None of them wins everywhere, and the right choice depends on who you need to talk to.

Features, pros, cons and who Element is for

Element’s feature list covers the full job of a modern chat app: text, voice notes, photos, files, reactions, replies, threads, editing, search, rooms, spaces, direct messages, voice and video calls, screen sharing on supported clients, bots and bridges to other chat networks, and widgets for polls and shared tools. Bridges deserve a mention, because they let a Matrix room talk to people on other networks, so a community can keep one room instead of splitting across four apps. Not every bridge is simple to set up, but the option exists, and that matters for groups with members who will not move.

The app works on Android, iOS, desktop, and the web, with the same account and the same rooms everywhere. A message I send from my phone appears on my laptop within a second, and a draft I start on the web is waiting when I pick up the phone. That cross-device behaviour is table stakes for a chat app now, and Element handles it without fuss.

Pros of Element

The strongest point is control: open standard, federated servers, no phone number required, and encryption on by default for private chats. The second strength is room management, because admins get real tools for running a community instead of a single report button. The third strength is longevity: your history and contacts are not hostage to one company’s business decisions, and you can move servers without losing your people.

• Open Matrix standard with federation means your chats are not locked to one provider or one app.
• End-to-end encryption by default in private chats, with verification and encrypted key backup.
• Powerful rooms, spaces, and moderation tools that suit real communities, not just small groups.
• No ads, no phone number requirement, and privacy settings you can actually check and change.

Cons of Element

The fairest criticism is the first day. Rooms, spaces, homeservers, and verification are new ideas for most people, and the app explains them briefly rather than holding your hand. A second weakness is that the experience depends on your homeserver: a slow or crowded server can make sync feel sluggish even when your phone and connection are fine. A third point is that Element X is still catching up on a few power features from the older app, so long-time users may miss a favourite tool for a while.

• The first day has a learning curve, with new ideas like rooms, spaces, and verification to absorb.
• Speed and reliability depend partly on which homeserver you choose.
• Element X is still catching up on a few features from the older Element app.
• Some contacts will not move, so you may run Element alongside another chat app for a while.

Who Element is for

Element suits people who care about who holds their messages and who want a chat tool that a community can run for itself. It fits open-source projects, clubs, teams, families who value privacy, and anyone who dislikes being tied to a phone number. Patient beginners will also find their footing if they give it a week to learn the room model. It is a weaker fit for someone who wants every contact already installed and zero learning on day one, and for those people Signal or WhatsApp may be the calmer first step, with Element kept for the groups that matter most.

Questions people ask about Element

Is Element really private, or is it just another chat app?

Element is genuinely different in structure, not just in marketing. Private chats use end-to-end encryption by default, the app asks for no phone number, and the Matrix standard lets you choose or run your own homeserver. That said, privacy still depends on your choices: a public room is public, metadata such as room membership is visible to your server, and a weak passphrase on your key backup weakens the whole setup. Check the settings on day one and the privacy claims hold up.

What happens to my messages if my homeserver goes down?

Your rooms keep working for members on other servers, because federation copies messages across the servers in each room. Your own access pauses until your server returns, and your encrypted history syncs back once it does. If a server closes for good, you can move your account to another homeserver and rejoin your rooms, which is why keeping your recovery key safe matters so much.

Can I use Element without giving my phone number?

Yes. Element never asks for a phone number, and you can sign up with an email address or, on some servers, with just a username and password. That makes it a good choice for people who keep their number private, for second devices, and for accounts shared by a team. Your contacts find you by your Matrix ID, which looks like a username with a server name after it.

Is Element X the same as Element, and which one should I install?

Element X is the rebuilt Android app and the version most new users should install first, because it is faster and it is where new work is landing. The older Element app remains available for features that have not moved over yet. If you rely on a specific power feature, run both for a week, confirm your key backup works in Element X, and then keep the one that fits your daily use.

Does Element work for large communities or only small groups?

Element handles large rooms well, with moderation tools, spaces to organise related rooms, and threads to keep busy discussions readable. I used it in a public community room with hundreds of members and the message list stayed usable, though a room that busy needs active moderators and clear rules. For a small family group it is equally at home, and the same app covers both ends without a separate tool.

My verdict on Element and where to get it

Element earns its place by giving you a chat app that answers to you rather than to an advertiser. The Matrix foundation, the encryption by default, and the freedom to choose or run a server are real differences, not slogans, and the recent move to Element X has removed much of the slowness that used to put people off. Its weaknesses are honest ones: a learning curve on the first day, some dependence on your homeserver, and a few older features still catching up. None of them stopped me moving two group chats over, and none of them would stop me recommending it to a friend who cares about the same things.

Give it a week before you judge it, set up your key backup on day one, and start with one room that matters to you. Click here to download the Element app when you are ready, and keep the older app installed until you are sure Element X has everything you use. If you want a lighter social option alongside it, Click here to download the ShareChat app, and for short video on the side, Click here to download the Moj app as well.