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Element Call

MEETINGS
Velocity5.0

Open-source end-to-end encrypted group video calling built on Matrix

element.io/call ↗

Legacy single-SFU mode is now gone, closing the multi-SFU migration it began in June.

matrixwebrtcmulti-sfuperformancedeprecation
◆Current state
Element Call has finished the call-topology migration it started two months ago. Multi-SFU became the default in v0.21.0 with legacy single-SFU negotiation still reachable from developer settings; this release deletes MatrixRTC legacy mode outright, so per-homeserver SFUs are the only topology left. The same release carries a substantial rendering performance pass — fewer context-menu re-renders, animations disabled at high tile counts, video fitted without polling RTP stats, redundant layout updates ignored — plus a configurable key-rotation participant limit.
◆Where it's heading
Two arcs are running together. The architectural one is nearly complete: transport discovery via .well-known went in the previous release, legacy RTC mode goes in this one, and the deprecation surface is shrinking release by release. The other is performance under load, which has been the recurring theme for three consecutive releases and points at large group calls as the case being optimised for. Every release in this window is an rc.1 that ships as the release, so the release-candidate labelling should not be read as instability.
◆Prediction
With the legacy paths removed, expect the next releases to keep pushing on large-call rendering cost and on the embedded widget packages, which are versioned and published alongside every build.

◆Recent moves

  1. 5d ago

    MatrixRTC legacy mode removed; large-call rendering pass

    Removing MatrixRTC legacy mode closes the multi-SFU migration that was sparked in v0.21.0 — the direction was set then, and this release only takes away the escape hatch. The bigger practical content is the performance work for calls with many tiles, plus a key-rotation participant limit now exposed in config.

    View source ↗
  2. 22d ago

    Media quality settings UI; .well-known transport discovery removed

    Advanced media quality settings with config-driven defaults, and the removal of .well-known transport discovery. The first deprecation of the pair that this window completes, and the React Compiler landing here starts the performance thread that continues into v0.25.

    View source ↗
  3. 1mo ago

    Landscape mobile call layout fixes

    Landscape one-on-one layout and a handful of Safari and layout-switch fixes. Small mobile polish between the larger architectural releases.

    View source ↗
  4. 1mo ago

    Default gradient background and reworked mobile call design

    A gradient background by default, disableable via URL parameter, and reworked voice and group call presentation on mobile. Visual identity work running in parallel with the topology migration.

    View source ↗
  5. 2mo ago

    Multi-SFU becomes the default call topology

    ⚡ SPARK

    The origin of the arc this window closes: multi-SFU became the default call topology, with legacy negotiation left reachable as a fallback. v0.25.0 removes that fallback, which makes this the release that actually set the direction.

    View source ↗
  6. 2mo ago

    matrix_rtc_mode config option and typed connection errors

    A matrix_rtc_mode config option and typed LiveKit errors instead of generic unknown ones. The config switch here is an early step toward the mode consolidation completed in v0.25.

    View source ↗