Piirit - native DeltaChat client for Sailfish OS

9er · September 19, 2026, 8:20pm

This client is not listed in DC clients list. I have no relation, just found it.

Silica/QML application built on top of the Delta Chat core.
“Developed with the help of AI”, so beware.

r10s · September 20, 2026, 12:48pm

wow - thanks for the hint!

there is also a post in the sailfish forum at …

… and we also added the client to

muhnschein · September 20, 2026, 6:07pm

Hi there, I was really surprised today to see the app that I just released on chatmail.at. I’m flattered and grateful for the visibility. If you have any questions, let me know.

muhnschein · September 25, 2026, 8:20pm

Piirit 2.0.0 is out

A few things from the To-Do list are now done:

Several relays per profile. You can add more relays (transports) to a profile and see how each one is doing under “Storage and connectivity”. (Thanks to broncheolus for testing this one!)
Piirit can now be the first device in a multi-device setup.
Quick actions on the app cover. My personal favourite. You can put one or two actions on the cover, like search or opening a certain chat.
Voice calls (experimental). You can place, answer and end one-to-one calls. They’re off by default. To try them, go to Settings → Advanced. They do work - but since Sailfish OS does not come with a Calls API accessible to regular Store apps, the UX is still a bit… odd and not to my liking. Hidden behind the experimental flag on purpose, lots of polishing (and nagging Jolla) left to do.

Also new:

Voice messages are sent as MP3 instead of FLAC, so they’re much smaller.
Blocking contacts works better.
Attachments are saved to Downloads/Piirit by default.
You can select and copy part of a long message.
The RPM is smaller.
As promised, I went through the English and German strings by hand and also removed most menu subtitles. The other languages were updated from that. (Thanks to frankps for suggestions for Bokmål!)
Updated Delta Chat core (deltachat-rpc-server) to 2.62.0.

To install, download harbour-piirit-2.0.0-1.aarch64.rpm from the release page and run:

devel-su pkcon install-local harbour-piirit-2.0.0-1.aarch64.rpm

Please file bugs as GitHub issues. Happy chatting!

ian · September 26, 2026, 6:03pm

Have you considered more efficient and free formats such as Opus (or at least Ogg Vorbis) instead of mp3?

muhnschein · September 26, 2026, 6:14pm

Yup, first thing I tried, but in my testing deltachat-ios recipients show these only as audio/ogg file attachments, not as voice messages. deltachat-android works fine.
Decided to do what the desktop client does: WAV (temp) → MP3.

r10s · September 26, 2026, 6:36pm

when choosing formats, it should indeed not only be considered per-platform, but looking at the whole ecosystem.

this is why we’re a bit conservative there, see below for more detailed reasoning and formats:

github.com/chatmail/core

src/message.rs

a1eb593d8


      
          pub(crate) fn guess_msgtype_from_suffix(msg: &Message) -> Option<(Viewtype, &'static str)> {
              msg.param
                  .get(Param::Filename)
                  .or_else(|| msg.param.get(Param::File))
                  .and_then(|file| guess_msgtype_from_path_suffix(Path::new(file)))
          }
          
          pub(crate) fn guess_msgtype_from_path_suffix(path: &Path) -> Option<(Viewtype, &'static str)> {
              let extension: &str = &path.extension()?.to_str()?.to_lowercase();
              let info = match extension {
                  // before using viewtype other than Viewtype::File,
                  // make sure, all target UIs support that type.
                  //
                  // it is a non-goal to support as many formats as possible in-app.
                  // additional parser come at security and maintainance costs and
                  // should only be added when strictly neccessary,
                  // eg. when a format comes from the camera app on a significant number of devices.
                  // it is okay, when eg. dragging some video from a browser results in a "File"
                  // for everyone, sender as well as all receivers.
                  //
                  // if in doubt, it is better to default to Viewtype::File that passes handing to an external app.

muhnschein · October 8, 2026, 6:53pm

Piirit 2.1.0 is out! (Can’t post the link, see link in this post instead.)

What’s new:

Unread filter: the chat list now has Search and Unread pills at the top. Unread shows only chats with unread messages.
Any emoji as a reaction: react with any emoji, not just the quick selection. Emoji are drawn as Twemoji, in messages too.
Easier onboarding: a new profile picks a relay automatically and adds more in the background. If you want a specific relay, it’s under Advanced. Scanning a relay’s QR code now offers to add that relay to your profile.
Chat descriptions: show and edit the description of a group or channel.

Other changes:

Text written by the Delta Chat core itself (system messages and the like) is now translated into every language.
Relay list synced with chatmail.at/relays.
Turning on an experimental feature asks/warns first.
A large attachment gets a warning instead of being refused.
Chat-list ages keep moving instead of freezing at “now”.
The QR scanner no longer re-locks its focus every couple of seconds.
Avatars on the app cover no longer break.

To install, grab the aarch64 RPM from the release page and run:

devel-su pkcon install-local harbour-piirit-2.1.0-1.aarch64.rpm

Bugs and ideas are welcome as GitHub issues.