Questions and answers

Do I need a phone number or an account?

No. You open Peers, pick a name and a little face, and you are in. Your identity is a key your device makes and keeps, so there is nothing to register, nothing to verify, and no password. If you delete the app, no account is left behind anywhere, because there never was one.

How do I find my friends?

You don’t search for them. You send an invite link or show a QR code, the way you would hand someone a key. Only people with that link can join that chat. There is no directory, so strangers cannot find you.

What do the four emoji mean?

They are a short, readable summary of a person’s key, and they are the same on both sides. If the four emoji next to Ana on your screen match the four emoji Ana reads out from hers, you are talking to Ana. If they don’t match, someone else is at the other end and you should not carry on.

Can OPUS read my messages?

No. Every message is sealed on your device before it goes anywhere, first for the person you are writing to, then again for the chat. OPUS holds no key that opens either layer, and no copy of your messages sits on any machine of ours.

What does the relay see?

A sealed pouch, a random-looking chat number, and the time it went past. That is enough to notice that some chat was busy at some moment. It is not enough to read anything, to know your name, or to know who you were writing to.

What happens if my friend’s phone is off?

Your sealed pouch waits in a mailbox and is picked up when their phone comes back. The mailbox holds it for up to 24 hours and then deletes it, and it never learns what is inside. If you are both online, nothing goes to the mailbox at all.

Why did my message arrive late?

A locked iPhone does not run apps, so something has to wake it, and only Apple can. Peers asks a small program run by OPUS to ring that doorbell, and if it is not running, the phone picks the message up a bit later, when it wakes on its own or the app is opened. New-message alerts are also sent with a small delay on purpose, so a few seconds is normal.

Does it work without internet?

Yes, if you are near each other. On the same Wi-Fi, or simply close by, your devices find each other and talk directly, with no relay and no connection to the outside world. It works on a plane, in a basement, or anywhere the signal has given up.

Are calls encrypted?

Yes. Voice and video go straight between devices and are encrypted end to end. On networks that block a direct path, a TURN relay forwards the encrypted stream, and it cannot listen to what it is forwarding.

Is it free?

Yes. There is no paid tier, no subscription and no advertising, and nothing about you to sell.

Is it open source?

Yes, under the GPLv3, on GitHub. That covers the iPhone app, the Mac app and the doorbell app that wakes sleeping phones.

Can I run my own relay or doorbell?

Yes to both.

• The relay is a setting in the app. Point Peers at any relay, including one you run.
• The doorbell is a small Mac app. Run it on any Mac you leave switched on.
• Build the app under your own Apple developer account and it is independent of OPUS, while still chatting with everyone on the App Store build.

The doorbell page has the details.

What is BUZZ?

Press it and the other phone shakes and buzzes. It is a nod to Yahoo Messenger.

What does OPUS know about me?

Nothing that identifies you. There is no account, so there is no name, number or address to hold. The relay sees sealed messages, a random-looking chat number and timing. The program that wakes sleeping phones sees which phone to wake and when, and keeps none of it. None of that says who you are or what you said.

Where is my data stored?

On your device, encrypted, and nowhere else. Your profile, contacts, chats and files live in encrypted storage on your phone and Mac. There is no cloud copy to request, subpoena or lose.

What happens if I lose my phone?

Your identity and your history lived only on that phone, and there is no cloud copy to restore from. To start again:

1. Install Peers on the new phone. You get a new identity and new emoji.
2. Ask your friends to send you a fresh invite.