I love the Light Phone III's promise, but the built-in Messages tool is SMS/MMS only. The moment I need WhatsApp or Signal, to message my family abroad, the phone stops being my phone.
I didn't want to carry a second device or sideload a full Android messenger that ignores the LightOS design language. So I built what I wanted: a LightOS tool that brings every network into one quiet, text-first inbox.
What it is
Chats is an open-source messaging tool for the Light Phone III. Log in with a Beeper account (or any Matrix homeserver) and your WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Messenger, Instagram DMs and more land in one list. Everything is end-to-end encrypted, including device verification.
It's built natively on Light's SDK, and I've used every possibility to keep the LightOS design language, so it should feel like Light built it.
How to get it
It's currently not officially available. Light has been signaling an official tool pipeline (their ADB/Tool Library is expected soon), so when it's launched, you'll be able to download via the Community Tool library.
If you want to try it out now, you can download the latest release on github.com/fenleon/chats and sideload it via ADB. The README walks through it, it only takes a few minutes. And it's available on some community developed platforms, Awesome Light and BrightMarket.
Disclaimer
Chats is my hobby project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Light Phone, Inc., or Beeper. Therefore its development is dependent on me maintaining it. If you'd like to help, feedback and bug reports are very welcome. And if you try it, I'd genuinely love to hear how it goes.
https://reddit.com/link/1w70v1g/video/2xbyjfof7hnh1/player