Plazer

Plazer is an encrypted messenger for communities, and the phone is where a messenger like that lives most of the time. The Android app is a native client written in Kotlin and Jetpack Compose, with no browser underneath, on the same account as the desktop app and the browser version.

A phone puts demands on an encrypted messenger that a computer does not: notifications that must not reveal content on the lock screen, phones without Google services, widgets, adding a new device without email or text messages, and things that only make sense in a pocket, like people nearby.

The app has the same conversations as the computer: direct and group messages encrypted end to end, servers with channels, roles and permissions, a forum and threads, emoji, reactions and embeds. Joining a voice channel takes one tap, and a voice message is recorded straight from the composer.

The app works out channel and role permissions the same way the server does, so a button you are not allowed to use is not shown at all.

An account is created from just a name and a password, with no email address and no phone number. Instead the app issues a recovery key which, together with the password, brings the account back after a device is replaced or lost, so there is no list of phone numbers tied to people anywhere.

Notifications arrive through UnifiedPush, so they also work on phones without Google services. They never show the message content: the server does not know the content of encrypted chats, so there is nothing to send, and the lock screen only shows that a new message has arrived.

Home screen widgets show chats with their number of new messages, a voice channel where someone is talking right now, a friend with their availability and the next event. You only see the content once you open the app.

Search looks through the messages stored on this phone, and the query never leaves the device, so it works offline too. Filters narrow the results to chats with files or to a chosen period.

Disappearing messages are set for both sides of a conversation, files included, and a hidden chat vanishes from the list and opens with a separate PIN.

Plazer helps you find people around you but never reveals anyone's location. Visibility shows an area, never a point on the map, the radius starts at one kilometre, and a single switch turns visibility on and off. A message to someone nearby lands in their requests, not straight in their inbox.

When the old device is gone, you sign in with your password and recovery key and restore the history from an encrypted backup. The app is installed from the Plazer website, and new versions arrive inside the app.