Work in progress. PyriteChat is in early testing on Android. Features, and this site, will change. Do not rely on it for anything important yet.

PyriteChat

PyriteChat sends one-to-one, end-to-end encrypted messages between phones over Bluetooth. There are no message servers, no accounts, and no phone number or email address to sign up with.

How it works, in short

The app creates an identity on your phone. You back it up with a 12-word recovery phrase.
You add a contact by scanning the QR code on their phone.
Messages are encrypted end to end with the XMTP messaging protocol. Only you and your contact can read them.
Messages travel directly between phones over Bluetooth. When your contact is out of range, other nearby phones running PyriteChat can pass a sealed message along without being able to read it.

Read how PyriteChat works in detail.

Status

PyriteChat is a work in progress. This is where it stands.

Works now, in Android test builds

Creating an identity, and restoring it from the 12-word recovery phrase
Adding contacts by QR code, or from a list of nearby phones
Message requests from people you have not added: accept, ignore or block
Messages, replies and reactions directly between two phones over Bluetooth
Relaying messages through other phones, and carrying them for up to 10 minutes

In progress

Stronger protection for the order of messages in a conversation
Private discovery, so that people nearby cannot identify your phone or follow it from place to place
An iPhone app

Known limits

Android only, and test builds only. There is no store release yet.
When your phone connects to another, anyone nearby with a Bluetooth scanner can see your identity's public ID and use it to follow your phone. Message contents stay encrypted. The privacy page has details.
Bluetooth range is short, and delivery is not guaranteed. A message waits on your phone until your contact, or a phone that can carry it, comes into range.
One phone per identity.
Updates may be incompatible with earlier test builds and need a reinstall.

Install

Google Play: not yet available
App Store: not yet available