[brainsmith]

That's awesome for teams to focus on just work conversations but unfortunately not enough.

We've completely switched our work communication to a self-hosted matrix+element with SSO, so we can be sure our matrix auth is secured the same way our other internal services are.

However, some of us also have personal matrix accounts which are offline during work hours and corporate accounts are offline outside of work hours which forbids using matrix as an emergency contact method. It would be great to either ability to sign into multiple accounts or an ability to sign into a single space using account other than the default one.

[Arathorn]

Yup. Multiaccount is desperately needed in Element. Other Matrix clients (FluffyChat, Quaternion, possibly Nheko?) have it already though)... plus you can always cheat and just open Element in multiple browser tabs :)

[diftraku]

I got around the single-account limitation on Element by installing a work profile on my Android phone using Shelter[1]. I initially spotted this from HN while we were looking at migrating from Slack to Matrix and I wanted to keep my personal account separate.

Works surprisingly well for my use-case (keep work stuff separate on Element) and even allows me to disconnect completely from work by simply turning off the profile.

[1]: https://github.com/PeterCxy/Shelter

Edit: added note about using Android

[encryptluks2]

Not really a proper solution for 98% of the public

[diftraku]

Definitely not, I'd still preferr to have proper multi-account support over having to use a work profile on Android (or multiple profiles if using a browser).

[Groxx]

yeah, I've done this too - it's pretty simple and effective for getting 2 accounts for anything. though it's a shame that it's only limited to 2, since it's not like all people have only 1 job...

... but it's quite far from actual multi-account support, so I do think that's still necessary :)

[atatatat]

I've never seen a good implementation of this.

It's either obtrusive to the UI, or completely hidden.

Stack accounts at the OS level, or close to it.

Your advice to run a separate browser tab is by far the best — even if on mobile.

[usbfingers]

Syphon (https://syphon.org) landed Multiaccount support several months back, though it still lacks many other features.

[nix23]

I one corporation they used pagers exactly for that emergency situation, some techies just wanted a smartphone timeout at weekends etc (aka don't have to check your phone every 30minutes). But if the pager rings you know it's something serious.

I think that is a great idea.

[southerntofu]

> forbids using matrix as an emergency contact method

I think it's good policy that your work communication tools are unavailable outside of work hours. It's actually mandated by worker protection laws in many countries (France included).

But if your work contract specifies you have compensation for staying reachable on an emergency basis, why not have a dedicated emergency channel where both personal and work accounts are subscribed?