Observed arrival · 2026-09-20
encdm: encrypted messaging without a phone number
An invite-only messenger built around invented handles rather than phone numbers, using Signal’s cryptographic library.
- For
- Privacy-conscious people seeking phone-free messaging
- Worth noticing
- The relay stores cryptographic commitments to handles rather than readable names, but still sees timing, network addresses, and invite relationships.
Field notes
encdm separates account identity from phone numbers by combining a user-chosen handle with a numeric suffix and a cryptographic commitment held by the relay. New contacts require an out-of-band comparison of 60-digit safety numbers, while account recovery depends on a 24-word phrase with no reset mechanism. The project reports working iPhone, terminal, and self-hostable relay components, but says the surrounding code has not received an independent security audit and several common messaging features remain absent.
Observed signals
Read the marks
Editorial observations of this landing page, not a rating.
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