bareTalk Open web app

Private chats with people you’ve actually met.

No phone number, no account. Your phones swap keys by scanning a code, so this server only ever carries sealed envelopes it can’t open.

Download for Android Open in your browser

On iPhone, open it in Safari, then choose Share › Add to Home Screen.

How it works

  1. Get the app

    Install it on Android, or use it right in your browser. Pick the name your friends know you by. That’s the whole sign-up.

  2. Meet and scan

    One of you shows a QR code, the other scans it. That one scan gives both phones a shared secret that never travels over the internet.

  3. Talk

    Messages, photos, files, groups and voice calls. Everything is sealed on your phone and opened only on theirs.

Can’t meet in person? Send an invite link instead, then compare your safety codes on a call.

Built to keep quiet

  • Encrypted end to end

    Every message gets a fresh key, with post-quantum protection against future computers that could break today’s encryption.

  • Disappearing messages

    Set a timer for a chat, and both phones delete its messages when the time runs out.

  • Your phone, your rules

    Choose how long this phone keeps history, and pin the messages you want to keep. It never changes anything for the other person.

  • Groups and calls

    Group chats of up to 32 people, and voice calls that go directly between phones whenever the network allows.

  • Photos and files

    Photos are stripped of location data before sending. Files up to 25 MB travel encrypted and stay on the server for 14 days at most.

  • Locked down

    Optional passphrase, auto-lock, and a wipe after too many wrong tries. The Android app also blocks screenshots.

What this server can and can’t see

This server only passes sealed envelopes between phones. Here is everything it gets.

It sees

  • Random mailbox addresses that change every day
  • Envelopes that are all 4 KB, with the time rounded to the hour
  • Encrypted files under random names, with padded sizes
  • The IP address of each phone while it’s connected

It never sees

  • Names, phone numbers, accounts or contact lists
  • Message text, photos, files or keys
  • File names, types, or which chat a file belongs to
  • Which stored mailboxes belong to the same person

One honest limit: while you’re connected, whoever runs this server could link your chats by their timing. Running your own server, or connecting through Tor, closes that gap.

The Android app

bareTalk for Android

Download APK
  1. Download the APK and open it.
  2. Android asks whether your browser may install apps. Allow it this once.
  3. Open bareTalk. If it asks for a server, enter this page’s address
Check that your download is genuine
File SHA-256
Signing certificate SHA-256

Every update is signed with this same certificate. Android refuses to replace the app with one signed by anyone else, so once it’s installed, nobody can swap it for a fake.

The Android app isn’t available on this server yet. The browser version works on any phone.