Ember

Encrypted messages that burn after they are read.

Installing

What it does

• End-to-end encrypted. The Signal Protocol, with post-quantum key agreement. Keys are generated on your phone and never leave it.
• Messages burn. A message starts a countdown the moment it is drawn on screen, then catches fire and is overwritten in memory — on both phones at once.
• No account, no phone number, no email. You pair by scanning a QR code in person. There is no directory to look anyone up in, because there is no directory.
• Message text is never written to disk. No database row, no file, no backup. It lives in memory and dies with the app.
• Screenshots are blocked by Android itself, including screen recording, casting and the app-switcher preview.

What it does not do

• Stop a camera pointed at your screen. No app can. Blocking screenshots stops the device capturing; it does nothing about the person opposite you.
• Protect you on a compromised phone. Wiping memory defeats forensic recovery afterwards. It does not defeat malware or a keylogger reading what you type.
• Hide that you are talking to someone. Message contents are unreadable to the relay, but a relay necessarily sees that two devices exchanged something and when.
• Work without setup. Pairing needs both phones on the same Wi-Fi. After that, messages travel over the internet.

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Source code