Riot, a decentralized messaging app, is renamed Element

Riot was and is now a decentralized instant messaging application based on the open source Matrix protocol.

At the end of June, the Riot instant messaging client announced that it would change its name. They revealed that their new name is Element. Let's take a look at why Riot needs to change its name and what else needs to be changed.

Why was the name changed from Riot to Element?

Before talking about the latest announcement, let's take a look at why they changed their name in the first place.

According to a blog post on June 23, the organization changed its name for three reasons.

First, they stated that "a large game company" has repeatedly prevented them from registering the trademarks of Riot and Riot.im's product names. If I had to guess, they might be referring to this "game company").

Secondly, their original intention of choosing the name Riot was to "evoke something destructive and energetic." They worry that people think that the app is "focused on violence." I think that under the current circumstances, this name is not good.

Third, they want to clarify the confusion caused by the many brand names involved in Riot. For example, Riot was created by a company called New Vector, and Riot is hosted on Modular, which is also a product of New Vector. They want to simplify their naming system to avoid confusing potential customers. When people look for messaging solutions, they hope they only need to look for one name: Element.

The element is everything

Starting from July 15th, the name of the app and the name of the company have been changed to Element. Their Matrix hosting service will now be called Element Matrix Services. Their announcement sums it up nicely.

"For those who discover us for the first time, Element is the flagship secure collaboration application in the Matrix communication network. Element allows you to have your own end-to-end encrypted chat server, and at the same time, it can communicate with the wider Matrix network. Other people connect."
They chose the name Element because it "reflects our emphasis on simplicity and clarity when designing RiotX; this name highlights our dedication to making Element the most elegant and practical mainstream communication application imaginable." ". They also said that they wanted a name that "evokes the concept of data ownership and self-sovereignty." They also thought it was a cool name.

In addition to changing the name

Recent announcements also indicate that this move is not just a simple name change. Element also released the "New Generation Android Matrix Client". The client's predecessor was RiotX, now it is renamed Element. (What else?) It has completely rewritten the previous client and now supports VoIP calls and widgets. Element will also be launched on iOS, support iOS 13, and provide "new push notification support".

The Element Web client has also received some care, with updated UI and new easier-to-read fonts. They also "rewritten the room list controls-added room preview (!!), alphabetical order, adjustable list size, improved notification user interface, etc.". They also started working to improve end-to-end encryption.

Final thoughts

The people at Element took a big step and made such a major name change. They may lose some customers in the short term. (This may be mainly due to not being aware of the name change for some reason, or not liking the change). However, in the long run, brand simplification will help them stand out.

The only negative note I want to mention is that this is their third name change in the history of the app. When it was released in 2016, it was originally named Vector. It was renamed Riot later that year. I hope Element can continue to be used.

https://itsfoss.com/riot-to-element/