SimpleX Chat: secure messenger

Privacy redefined: no user IDs

Published by: SimpleX Chat
Downloads
Revenue

Description

SimpleX - the first messaging network without user identifiers of any kind (not even random numbers) - 100% private by design!
Security assessments by Trail of Bits:
2022: https://simplex.chat/blog/20221108-simplex-chat-v4.2-security-audit-new-website.html
2024: https://simplex.chat/blog/20241014-simplex-network-v6-1-security-review-better-calls-user-experience.html
SimpleX Chat features:
- quantum resistant end-to-end encrypted messages, with editing, replies and deletion.
- disappearing messages with opt-out per contact/group.
- message reactions.
- delivery receipts, with opt-out per contact or group.
- multiple chat profiles, with hidden profiles.
- app access and self-destruct passcodes.
- incognito mode - unique to SimpleX Chat.
- end-to-end encrypted images and files.
- voice messages up to 5 minutes – also end-to-end encrypted.
- "live" messages – they update for all recipients as you type them, every few seconds - unique to SimpleX Chat.
- connect via one-time invitation links or via long-term public addresses.
- secret chat groups - only group members know the group exists and who is the member.
- end-to-end encrypted audio and video calls.
- connection security code verification, for contacts and group members – to protect from man-in-the-middle attacks (e.g. invitation link substitution).
- end-to-end encrypted push notifications (they contain only encrypted meta-data, not the actual content).
- encrypted portable chat database - you can transfer your chat contacts and history to another device.
- all local files and media are encrypted by default.
- animated images and "stickers" (e.g., from GIF and PNG files and from 3rd party keyboards).
SimpleX Chat advantages:
- privacy of your identity, profile, contacts and metadata: unlike any other existing messaging platform, SimpleX uses no phone numbers or any other identifiers assigned to the users - not even random numbers. This protects the privacy of who you are communicating with, hiding it from SimpleX platform servers and from any observers.
- complete protection against spam and abuse: as you have no identifier on SimpleX platform, you cannot be contacted unless you share a one-time invitation link or an optional temporary user address.
- full ownership, control and security of your data: SimpleX stores all user data on client devices, the messages are only held temporarily on SimpleX relay servers until they are received.
- decentralized proxied peer-to-peer network: you can use SimpleX Chat via your own relay servers and still communicate with people using pre-configured or any other SimpleX relay servers.
- fully open-source code.
You can connect to anybody you know via link or scan QR code (in the video call or in person) and start sending messages instantly - no emails, phone numbers or passwords needed.

Your profile and contacts are only stored in the app on your device - relay servers do not have access to this information.

All messages are end-to-end encrypted using open-source quantum resistant double-ratchet protocol; the messages are delivered via relay servers using open-source SimpleX Messaging Protocol.

Please send us any questions via the app (connect to the team via the app settings!), email [email protected] or submit issues on GitHub (https://github.com/simplex-chat/simplex-chat/issues)

Ream more about SimpleX Chat at https://simplex.chat
Get source code in our GitHub repo: https://github.com/simplex-chat/simplex-chat

Follow us on X/Twitter (@SimpleXChat), Reddit (r/SimpleXChat/) and Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/@simplex) for the latest updates.
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Screenshots

SimpleX Chat FAQ

  • Is SimpleX Chat free?

    Yes, SimpleX Chat is completely free and it doesn't have any in-app purchases or subscriptions.

  • Is SimpleX Chat legit?

    🤔 The SimpleX Chat app's quality is mixed. Some users are satisfied, while others report issues. Consider reading individual reviews for more context.

    Thanks for the vote

  • How much does SimpleX Chat cost?

    SimpleX Chat is free.

  • What is SimpleX Chat revenue?

    To get estimated revenue of SimpleX Chat app and other AppStore insights you can sign up to AppTail Mobile Analytics Platform.

User Rating

5 out of 5

4 ratings in Finland

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Ratings History

SimpleX Chat Reviews

More private than Signal, but WIP

Anonymous User 23579 on

United States

Update to my review below. Noticed that if my recipient hasn’t opened the app in a few days, then messages I send her don’t get delivered. So while the privacy and anonymity features of this messaging app are better than Signal or any other such app I’ve seen, it appears to be still a work in progress as not everything works as expected. I hope the devs work out the bugs and soon. Love the concept of no user IDs and no personal information used. No registration. No phone numbers. No email addresses. Multiple profiles. In these regards it’s better than Signal. However, calling needs some work. When calling, would be nice to hear a ringing tone. Would be nice to have option to launch speakerphone while the call is ringing before being picked up. Also, there is a delay of a few seconds after caller picks up before I can hear the caller. The caller is saying “hello” after pickup and I can’t hear them until a few seconds after they pick up. This is with relay calls enabled. Didn’t try with relay disabled. But Signal has no such issue with relay calls enabled. I hope it continues to improve and gains popularity because in concept it’s excellent.

Amazing

wildhundreds on

United States

This is the most secure messenger I've encountered. Unbelievable.

Stay away: Unwanted actions happening

Romulan XI on

United States

While text chatting, the app automatically attached a random photo from my camera roll and sent it to my peer. I never intended to send any attachment, let alone a phot from around 5 months ago that’s deeply buried in my photo collection. To make matters worse, I could not delete or unsend the photo. Also, after being under development for years, the interface looks quite clunky and poorly made. NOT RECOMMENDED.

iPad

Sleeping a lot on

United States

Будет ли версия под iPad?

database password required.

AnonymousAnonAnon on

United States

I forgot the password and so can’t reset it

Can’t connect

Benben23412 on

United States

It shows that “connetion error “while i add new chat by creating link

Occasional crashes, but still impressive!

greg.i on

United States

It's amazing that such a small team put together such a full featured app. It's a bit unstable with frequent crashes, but luckily this happens while chatting so I just restart the app. If it died in the background I'd miss notifications, which would be a bigger problem.

Why can’t I use AirPod Pros for audio?

jovialkeach on

United States

This app mostly works but audio input selection is broken on iOS. I can’t use my AirPod Pros with it at all. It’s a bummer…. All that privacy and you have to hold a video call to your ear or put it on speakerphone (although even switching to speakerphone is difficult)

Voiceover experience needs major improvements

Little Blind Girl on

United States

Great concept and the basic stuff works for me in a functional sort of way. However, the interface makes navigating through the thread of messages using iOs Voiceover nearly impossible. I have to swipe (navigate to next item) about 10 times to get from one message to the next. I don't know what Voiceover is having to go over since none of it is spoken, but this interface is extremely inefficient, time consuming, and not at all how messaging apps should be. iMessages, Signal, etc, all the messages are right next to each other. Just one swipe from one to the next. Also, the date is spoken too soon after the message. On the outside where your connections are listed, it also takes 3 swipes to get from one to the next when it really only needs one. There are a few unlabeled elements and a lot of things have weird labels. I feel accessibility has not been given a high enough priority. I love, absolutely love what this app is supposed to do, but in the state it's in right now, I can't use it. Thank you for all the work you've done so far and I'm looking forward to future improvements.

Great until iOS 17

droshawott on

United States

I appreciate this solution to messaging but notifications have always been a problem despite having instant notifications enabled, and since iOS 17 introduced sentence autofill texting has been a nightmare on SimpleX. As the keyboard suggests words, instead of waiting for the user to tap on the suggested word the keyboard will just fill it in regardless while you’re typing. This is the only app I’ve had this issue with, hoped it would be fixed after a while, and alas as of 12/12/23 it still persists.

Store Rankings

Ranking History
Category Rankings
Chart
Category
Rank
Top Free
82
Top Free
87
Top Free
89
Top Free
109
Top Free
114

Keywords

SimpleX Chat Competitors

Name
Skred Messenger
Secure communications
Session - Private Messenger
Send messages, not metadata
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Monal - XMPP Chat
Open source XMPP Messenger
Kedr
Anonymous and safe messenger
ChatSecure Messenger
Encrypted Messenger
Jami
xPal Ultra Secure Messenger
Privacy. Security. Anonymity.
Orange Pill App - Bitcoin
Stack Friends Who Stack Sats
Keet by Holepunch

SimpleX Chat Installs

Last 30 days

SimpleX Chat Revenue

Last 30 days

SimpleX Chat Revenue and Downloads

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App Info

Publisher
SimpleX Chat
Languages
Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian
Recent release
6.2.1 (1 week ago )
Released on
Mar 8, 2022 (2 years ago )
Last Updated
12 hours ago
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