[FOSS] Lurker 2.5.0 - Full DCC Support & Android + iOS Native Apps & More!
Lurker PWA Interface
Hello my friends, it's been four months since I originally posted Lurker and I have been hard at work since then turning it into a fully featured IRC client. It still looks just as nice, and works just as well, but there's a lot more going on.
The summary is still the same: Lurker is a self-hosted multi-user IRC client (like The Lounge) with looks and functionality inspired by the best terminal IRC clients.
amiantos/lurker
So much has changed since the first time I posted Lurker on here, let me try to break it down.
Native iOS & Android Apps
It was always part of my goals for there to be full native apps for using Lurker from your phone, and both apps exist, are fully functional, and available in beta now. The iOS app is available for anyone on TestFlight but the Play Store beta requires I collect people's Google account email addresses to add them, so let me know if you want to test the Android beta! (And yes these are native apps, iOS is full UIKit and Android is using Kotlin. No React Native or its ilk here.)
Android app (slightly out of date screenshot)
IRC Bouncer Access
If, for some reason, you don't want to use the Lurker clients with their added functionality, Lurker has a full bouncer built in now so you can use any IRC client you like. The bouncer is fully featured with soju.im/bouncer-networks support, and soju.im/FILEHOST support giving you access to the same uploader you have configured in Lurker. The bouncer has been tested with clircs, Halloy, Goguma, HexDroid and other clients.
More IRCv3 Support
Lurker now supports replies and reactions on IRC servers that support them, as well as the multiline draft and some other stuff. If you really want your IRC to look like Discord, well, now you just need to join a server that supports it. (I'll personally primarly stick to Libera which does not support reply/react.)
Reply and Reaction support in Lurker
Full DCC support with SEND / CHAT and Secure DCC
If you ever dreamed of an IRC client that lets you handle your XDCCing remotely from your phone, well, here it is.
Lurker has full DCC support now along with Secure DCC. You can DCC/SDCC CHAT or SEND, and there's a full file management interface to use when sending and receiving files. If you're really into XDCC, there is also a full XDCC queuing system (similar to the EasyXdcc plugin for HexChat/WeeChat) which allows you to queue up packs across multiple bots and it'll automatically download them for you.
Admins can turn on chat / send / receive all separately per user, as well as set storage limits for users to prevent an overzealous DCCer from filling up all your disk space.
(Optional) Inline Link and Media Previews
Despite it not really being something I was personally interested in, Lurker now has full support for inline link and media previews. This is supported via a secondary container (lurker-previews) so that all link and content fetching is fully isolated from your Lurker instance, to avoid shenanigans from malicious link sharing. This also helps hide your personal computer from inline media previews, and can even hide your Lurker instance from them if you host lurker-previews outside your main network.
(Optional) IRC Engine Decoupling
With the optional lurker-engine container configured, updating Lurker will no longer kick your users off of IRC. The engine keeps the IRC connection alive while the main Lurker server restarts, and spools any incoming messages so they're sent to the server when it comes back. So if you have a lot of users on your Lurker instance, updates no longer create big quit/join floods on IRC networks. (This is super cool.)
And more!
It's probably impossible for me to list all the other little improvements and fixes that have gone into Lurker over the last four months. At this point, Lurker is essentially 'feature complete' (though some other stuff will come in the future, like IRCv3 metadata) and fulfills my original vision for the project. (And there is an easter egg hidden in Lurker now!)
I see a lot of other IRC client projects that are trying to recreate Discord and have their own branded IRC server forks with special support just for their clients and so on... Lurker is not that kind of project. Lurker is first and foremost a great IRC client that celebrates the simplicity and stability of IRC. Nothing against those other projects, this just reflects my personal taste and what I want from an IRC client.
Next steps for me on the Lurker Roadmap are to get the Lurker iOS and Android apps up on their respective stores so they're available to more users. After that it's just a matter of polishing and cleaning up what features exist already, with some small other additions along the way.
Thanks for joining me on this journey! Hope you enjoy Lurker if you use it.
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[FOSS] Lurker 2.5.0 - Full DCC Support & Android + iOS Native Apps & More! Lurker PWA Interface Hello my friends, it's been four months since I originally posted Lurker and I have been hard at work since then turning it into a fully featured IRC client. It still looks just as nice, and works just as well, but there's a lot more going on. The summary is still the same: Lurker is a self-hosted multi-user IRC client (like The Lounge) with looks and functionality inspired by the best terminal IRC clients. amiantos/lurker So much has changed since the first time I posted Lurker on here, let me try to break it down. Native iOS & Android Apps It was always part of my goals for there to be full native apps for using Lurker from your phone, and both apps exist, are fully functional, and available in beta now. The iOS app is available for anyone on TestFlight but the Play Store beta requires I collect people's Google account email addresses to add them, so let me know if you want to test the Android beta! (And yes these are native apps, iOS is full UIKit and Android is using Kotlin. No React Native or its ilk here.) Android app (slightly out of date screenshot) IRC Bouncer Access If, for some reason, you don't want to use the Lurker clients with their added functionality, Lurker has a full bouncer built in now so you can use any IRC client you like. The bouncer is fully featured with soju.im/bouncer-networks support, and soju.im/FILEHOST support giving you access to the same uploader you have configured in Lurker. The bouncer has been tested with clircs, Halloy, Goguma, HexDroid and other clients. More IRCv3 Support Lurker now supports replies and reactions on IRC servers that support them, as well as the multiline draft and some other stuff. If you really want your IRC to look like Discord, well, now you just need to join a server that supports it. (I'll personally primarly stick to Libera which does not support reply/react.) Reply and Reaction support in Lurker Full DCC support with SEND / CHAT and Secure DCC If you ever dreamed of an IRC client that lets you handle your XDCCing remotely from your phone, well, here it is. Lurker has full DCC support now along with Secure DCC. You can DCC/SDCC CHAT or SEND, and there's a full file management interface to use when sending and receiving files. If you're really into XDCC, there is also a full XDCC queuing system (similar to the EasyXdcc plugin for HexChat/WeeChat) which allows you to queue up packs across multiple bots and it'll automatically download them for you. Admins can turn on chat / send / receive all separately per user, as well as set storage limits for users to prevent an overzealous DCCer from filling up all your disk space. (Optional) Inline Link and Media Previews Despite it not really being something I was personally interested in, Lurker now has full support for inline link and media previews. This is supported via a secondary container (lurker-previews) so that all link and content fetching is fully isolated from your Lurker instance, to avoid shenanigans from malicious link sharing. This also helps hide your personal computer from inline media previews, and can even hide your Lurker instance from them if you host lurker-previews outside your main network. (Optional) IRC Engine Decoupling With the optional lurker-engine container configured, updating Lurker will no longer kick your users off of IRC. The engine keeps the IRC connection alive while the main Lurker server restarts, and spools any incoming messages so they're sent to the server when it comes back. So if you have a lot of users on your Lurker instance, updates no longer create big quit/join floods on IRC networks. (This is super cool.) And more! It's probably impossible for me to list all the other little improvements and fixes that have gone into Lurker over the last four months. At this point, Lurker is essentially 'feature complete' (though some other stuff will come in the future, like IRCv3 metadata) and fulfills my original vision for the project. (And there is an easter egg hidden in Lurker now!) I see a lot of other IRC client projects that are trying to recreate Discord and have their own branded IRC server forks with special support just for their clients and so on... Lurker is not that kind of project. Lurker is first and foremost a great IRC client that celebrates the simplicity and stability of IRC. Nothing against those other projects, this just reflects my personal taste and what I want from an IRC client. Next steps for me on the Lurker Roadmap are to get the Lurker iOS and Android apps up on their respective stores so they're available to more users. After that it's just a matter of polishing and cleaning up what features exist already, with some small other additions along the way. Thanks for joining me on this journey! Hope you enjoy Lurker if you use it.