Private messaging with no one in the middle.
Your phone is the server. Messages go straight between devices, end to end encrypted, over the internet, your local network, or Bluetooth when there is no internet at all. No phone number, no email, no account.
Free, no ads, no tracking. Android first; iOS is limited by platform Bluetooth rules.
Most messengers are someone else's database.
Your conversations get mined, sold, subpoenaed, or switched off. The company holding them is a single point of surveillance and a single point of failure. Chime removes the middle: there is no account to seize and nothing readable to hand over, because we never have it.
Your device is the server.
Messages travel directly between devices. When two phones share a network they talk straight to each other. When they do not, nearby phones pass encrypted messages along, hop to hop, over Bluetooth, with no internet at all.
Devices on the same network, or reachable over the internet, talk directly.
No internet? Nearby phones relay the encrypted message onward until it arrives.
When two devices cannot reach each other directly, a small relay can pass the encrypted envelope along. It cannot open it; nothing readable ever sits on a server. And with local WiFi or Bluetooth in range, Chime needs no relay at all.
Everything a messenger should do. Nothing it should not.
Talk how you like
MessagingOne to one and group conversations, end to end encrypted by default.
Send voice messages, or hold to talk walkie-talkie style.
Share a place that opens in the recipient's own maps or what3words app.
Photos, files, reactions, replies, search, edit, pin, and self-destruct timers.
Resilience
When things go wrongReach nearby people with no internet at all, across multiple hops.
Talk straight over a shared network, no internet needed.
Live beacons, a nearby-devices radar, and location sharing when it matters.
Channels that wake up when you arrive at a place.
Privacy and security
Nothing to mineX25519 key exchange, XSalsa20-Poly1305 encryption, Ed25519 signatures.
No phone number, no email, no account. Identity is a keypair.
A daily PIN plus a stronger Vault Word and Code protect your keys.
Enter it under duress to instantly wipe everything inside Chime.
One tap turns off biometrics and forces your PIN at borders.
Screen scramble, tracker stripping from links, and per-contact controls.
Recovery
No company requiredTrusted contacts, with both sides agreeing first.
Guardians confirm it is you, fully offline.
Restore identity and contacts from a backup split across guardians.
Make it yours
Tune itTurn features on or off; be as private or as open as you like.
A clean default, the IDE-grey Carbon, Monokai, and retro terminal looks.
When things go wrong, Chime is still on.
Emergency groups light up live beacons, a nearby-devices radar, and shared location, all over the mesh. Dead zones, disasters, protests, blackouts: if a phone is in range, a message gets through.
What Chime isn't.
Chime does one thing well: private, resilient messaging. For everything else, pair it with tools built for those jobs.
For the people who read the details.
No bold claims about being unbreakable. Just well-regarded cryptography, no personal data to leak, and sensible defences for the moments that matter.
Get back in without asking a company.
You choose trusted contacts as guardians, and both sides have to agree. They never see your messages; they only hold encrypted pieces that mean nothing on their own.
Pick your guardians
Choose trusted contacts. Each has to accept, so guardianship is always mutual.
Forgot your PIN
Your guardians vouch that it is really you, fully offline. No company in the loop.
Lost the phone
Restore your identity and contacts from an encrypted backup split across guardians, none of whom can read their piece.
Looks how you want it to.
Turn features on or off with the module system, and pick a look. Try one:
Themes ship with a clean default, the IDE-grey Carbon, Monokai, and a retro terminal look.
Fair questions.
Yes. Messages are end to end encrypted and stored only on your devices. There is no account and no personal data to hand over, because we never collect it.
Yes. Over Bluetooth, nearby phones relay your messages hop to hop with no internet, SIM, or WiFi. On a shared network, devices talk to each other directly.
Your chosen guardians help you restore your identity and contacts from an encrypted backup. They hold pieces they cannot read, and both sides have to agree before anything is restored.
iOS restricts the background Bluetooth access the mesh relies on, so we cannot offer the same guarantees there yet. We would rather be honest than ship something weaker.
Almost none. A small relay can pass encrypted envelopes between devices that are not on the same network, but it cannot open them. With local WiFi or Bluetooth in range, Chime needs no relay at all.
Yes. No ads, no tracking, no subscription. Chime is independent and intends to stay that way.
Sideload it in four steps.
Android only for now. iOS limits the background Bluetooth access the mesh depends on, so we will not pretend it works the same there.
Download the APK
Grab the latest signed build for Android.
Allow the install
Your phone will ask permission to install from this source. That is normal for sideloaded apps.
Verify it (encouraged)
Check the SHA-256 checksum and signing key against the values shown here before opening it.
Open Chime
Create your key. No number, no email, nothing to sign up for.
Check these before you open the file. If they do not match, do not install it.
example values · replaced per release
Free, and meant to stay independent.
No ads, no tracking, no subscription, no investors deciding what your messenger should harvest. Chime is built to outlast any one company, including its own. A way to chip in is coming.