Phlox
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Phlox is a messenger for Android. No phone number, no email: you sign in with one signature from a free wallet app, and only the people in a conversation can read it.
Phlox never asks for your phone number, your email or your name, and it doesn't want your address book or your location. You tap Sign once in a free wallet app. It isn't a payment and the wallet can stay empty.
A nickname is optional. Your contacts see the name you choose, or the one they give you. With neither, they see a short random address made for that chat alone, not your wallet.
That's the whole sign-up.
Messages, photos, files and voice notes are encrypted on your phone before they leave it. The network that carries them sees two random addresses made only for this chat (they look like 0x7a3f…e19c and 0x2c51…04ad), when something passed and roughly how big. Never the words, the picture or the voice.
Calls don't take this road at all. Voice goes straight between the two phones, encrypted. Only the ring passes here, as one more small message.
With Tor off, the services that carry your messages see your IP address. Everything you send stays encrypted either way.
Set a chat to burn on a timer. When the time is up, the message disappears on both phones.
Send a photo that opens once and then burns. In a bonfire, everyone gets their one look.
Delete your message and it is gone from every screen in the chat.
None of this reaches a copy someone already saved, or another phone pointed at the screen.
Group chats are bonfires. Reply with a quote, react with a little flame, send voice notes, photos and files.
Calls are one to one: voice, straight between the two phones. During a call you can share your screen, with sound if you like.
Messages. Carried by the XMTP network and end-to-end encrypted with MLS, the open standard for secure messaging. Phlox's own servers never carry or see them.
Photos, files, voice notes. Encrypted on your phone with AES-256-GCM before upload, then padded to a round size. The key travels only inside the encrypted message. Stored for 30 days.
Calls. WebRTC, straight between the two phones, encrypted with DTLS-SRTP. The call is set up inside the encrypted chat.
Backup. Encrypted with AES-GCM. The key comes from your wallet signature and never reaches the server.
Keys on your phone. Kept encrypted, with the master key in Android's secure key storage.
Tor. Built into the app. One switch, no extra apps.
Servers. A small directory for invite codes and search. Your profile is there only while search is on. Turn search off and it is deleted from the server at once. And Cloudflare storage for files and backups, which it can't read.
Android only. Android 8.0 or newer on a 64-bit phone, installed from a direct download. No iPhone or desktop app.
Calls reveal your IP. Phlox never shows it on screen. But the two phones connect directly, so someone technical on the other end can find the IP address your phone called from.
Some networks can't connect a call. There is no relay server yet. If a call fails, Wi-Fi on one side usually helps.
Tor is off by default. Turn it on in Settings → Walls. It takes 10–30 seconds to connect, everything is slower and calls are off.
The wallet is the key. Whoever controls it can sign in to your Phlox. Lose it and nobody can restore your account.
No. You need a free wallet app only to sign one text when you sign in. It isn't a payment, nothing is charged, and the wallet can stay empty. A separate new wallet just for Phlox is the most private choice.
No. Messages, photos, files and calls are end-to-end encrypted, and only the people in the conversation can read them. The cloud backup is encrypted with a key from your wallet that never reaches the server.
The encrypted cloud backup is on from the start. Sign in with the same wallet on a new phone and your contacts and chats come back. Photos and files older than 30 days don't. If you lose the wallet, nobody can restore the account.
Yes, without Google. Phlox keeps its own connection with a quiet notification, so nobody outside learns when someone writes to you. It uses slightly more battery and can be turned off.
private conversations. quiet flame.
Download for Android APK · Android 8.0+ · 64-bit · v0.114.9 · 43.8 MBDon’t use “Install” or “Add to home screen” in the browser menu: that only makes a shortcut to this page, not the messenger.