Option to disable e2e-encryption

[djschilling]

I would like to have an option to disable all e2e-encryption gui features.

Background

We develop a custom matrix client that ships in our app. Currently it does not support e2e-encryption. We have planned to support it but its a big task and so it will take some time to get it done. We also want our customers to be able to use element-web in their browser to have a good desktop experience. After logging in to element-web the first thing it shows is the setup process for e2e-encryption which is not needed for our customers at the moment. Additional they can create new rooms which are e2e encrypted which then cannot be displayed in our app.

Possible solutions

Server side

Add an option to the file .well-known/matrix/client which tells clients to not show e2e-encryption. Every client could then react to this flag.

Client side

Add a config option to element-web to disable e2e-encryption.

Related issues

• https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/4401

Pull Request

https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk/pull/5652