Private messaging for your trusted circle.
Invite-only, private by design, and built so your conversations do not turn into a public profile or a searchable archive. Direct messages and new device-encrypted groups are live now, and the remaining compatibility paths are called out plainly.
Direct messages are live
Encrypted mailbox delivery works across the active beta surfaces, with DM history staying local to the device.
New groups start device-encrypted
Older relay-hosted compatibility history still exists, but new groups no longer depend on relay-hosted history reads.
Invite-only onboarding is live
Magic-link access, adults-only confirmation, and device naming now happen in a short staged flow.
A relay that delivers without pretending to disappear.
EmberChamber uses a hosted edge relay for metadata, mailbox delivery, and attachment storage. Private keys, DM history, and private-content search stay with the people in the circle.
What the relay can see
Account, device, session, invite, and membership metadata, plus ciphertext envelopes until ack and attachment blobs needed for delivery. The relay is narrow, but it is not empty.
What the relay cannot read
Direct-message content and new device-encrypted group history are not exposed through relay-hosted history endpoints. That does not make every legacy path or attachment flow equally mature yet.
What stays on your device
Private keys, DM history, local search index, and contact trust state. Attachment encryption and legacy relay-hosted compatibility paths still need to be described separately instead of flattened into one claim.
Choose the surface that fits the session.
Android, Windows, and Ubuntu are the first posted native clients. The browser covers onboarding, messaging, search, and settings when you need immediate access.
.apk
Android
Primary beta client
The main way to use EmberChamber. Native client with local device storage and relay-assisted delivery.
.exe / .msi
Windows
First-wave desktop
Full desktop experience in a native Tauri shell for auth, messaging, groups, invites, and settings.
.deb / AppImage
Ubuntu
First-wave desktop
Packaged as .deb and AppImage for Linux operators and desktop-heavy testers who want the same first-wave desktop scope as Windows.
The beta is intentionally narrow, and that is part of the value.
Keep the surface tight, keep the trust story honest, and expand only where the runtime is already credible.
E2EE direct messages
Encrypted mailbox delivery across active beta surfaces
Small group messages
New groups are created as device-encrypted; legacy relay-hosted compatibility history still exists for older group and room flows
Encrypted attachments
Browser encrypted-conversation uploads use client-side ciphertext; native attachment rollout is still uneven
Invite-only onboarding
Email magic-link, no public registration
Device-local search
Index never sent to relay
Account recovery
Private email bootstrap with limited total-device-loss recovery
Passkey sign-in
After email bootstrap stabilises
iPhone client
After first-wave targets are stable
Honest answers before the beta opens wider.
The strongest advantage on this site is still honesty. Keep that, then make the rest of the experience feel deliberate enough to deserve it.
Is EmberChamber pure peer to peer?
No. Phones need reliable delivery when they are offline, so EmberChamber uses a hosted relay for metadata, delivery, and attachment storage. The privacy goal is to keep that role narrow, not to pretend the relay does nothing.
Do I need a phone number or Google account?
No. The beta uses invite-only email bootstrap. Your email handles identity and session recovery — it doesn't link your account to Google, Apple, or a carrier.
Is EmberChamber adults-only?
Yes. Beta access is limited to adults 18 and over, with a self-attested age gate during onboarding. This is not a platform for minors.
Will group chats be encrypted?
New groups in the active beta runtime are created with device-encrypted history. Legacy relay-hosted group and room history still exists in compatibility paths, and attachment encryption is not yet uniform across every client.
Who is this beta for?
Adults who want a genuine private space for their trusted circle — people who are tired of messaging apps that treat their conversation history as an asset.