No phone number

Your number stays yours.

Most messengers begin by asking for your phone number and your address book. OvateChat asks for neither.

You sign up with a username and an email address. The email is used only to confirm the account — it is never shown to anyone, and by default nobody can find you by it. Your contacts are never uploaded.

Whether people can find you by username, by email or by part of your name is a switch you flip yourself, in Settings → Privacy → Search & Discovery.

No phone number, no SIM tied to your identity
No address-book upload
Email used only to verify — never shared

Calls

Calls as private as your messages.

Voice and video calls between two people, and audio calls for the whole group — end-to-end encrypted with the same advanced encryption that protects your chats.

Call audio and video are encrypted with keys that only the devices on the call hold. Our servers help the call connect and never see or hear anything.

One-to-one voice and video calls
Group audio calls
Camera and microphone are used only while you are on the call — and you can lock them down further under Privacy → Camera & Microphone

Note: group calls are voice calls today.

An encrypted audio call in progress, with Mute, Speaker and End call

An encrypted video call: the other person full screen, your own camera in a small window at the top

Big files

Send the whole file. Up to 1 GB.

Documents, videos, archives — up to 1 GB each, encrypted end to end on your phone before they go anywhere.

Large files travel through OvateChat's own encrypted transfer, so a long video arrives as you filmed it rather than squeezed down. Only the people in the chat can open it; our servers hold ciphertext they cannot read.

Documents, PDFs, archives and full-length videos
Encrypted on your device, decrypted only on theirs
Progress you can watch, in the chat

Control

You decide who reaches you.

Every way someone can find you, contact you or watch your activity is a switch — and every switch is yours.

A message request from someone who is not a friend yet, with Accept, Decline and Block

Privacy settings: searchable by email, by username, find me by name, allow anyone to message me, disappearing messages

Security settings: biometric app lock, authenticator-app two-factor, linked devices, auto-revoke idle devices

Search & discoveryFindable by username, by email or by part of your name — each on or off separately.

Message requestsSwitch off “allow anyone to message me” and a stranger gets one request: Accept, Decline or Block. They are not told which.

Friend requests & blockingAdd friends by username; block anyone from their contact details.

Receipts & activityRead receipts, typing, online status and last seen — four switches, each reciprocal.

Disappearing messagesA default timer for every chat, or a different one per chat.

App lock & 2FAFace ID, Touch ID or fingerprint to open the app; an authenticator code to sign in.

Linked devicesSee every device signed in to your account and revoke the ones you no longer trust.

Screenshot protectionProfile photos and full-screen media are always shielded. You choose whether others may capture your chats; a group stays shielded while every member keeps it on. You can hide the rest of the app too.

Camera, mic & locationNever used in the background — only while you record, call or share.

The basics

Built on three promises.

The same three lines that greet you the first time you open the app.

End-to-end encrypted

Every message, photo, file and call is locked with advanced end-to-end encryption — a fresh key for every message.

Your privacy, our priority

No ads, no third-party trackers or analytics, and we never sell your data. Push notifications carry no content.

Only your recipients

Zero-knowledge by design — no key escrow, no back doors, no master key. Delivered ciphertext is not kept on our servers.

Everything you'd expect

All the ways you already talk — privately.

End-to-end encrypted from your device to theirs, every one of them.

1-to-1 & group chatsMessage one person or a whole group, with delivery and read receipts.

Photos, videos & filesMedia and documents that decrypt only on the recipients' devices — up to 1 GB.

Voice notesRecord and send a quick voice message.

Live locationShare where you are — or your live location for a set time. No map host sees it.

ReactionsReact to any message with an emoji.

StickersSticker packs to say it without words.

Link previews, made on your phonePreview cards are built on your device — and you can switch them off to keep links plain.

Multiple accountsKeep more than one account on one phone and switch between them in a tap.

Note to SelfA private space for notes and links that stays on your device.

Message requestsPeople who aren't friends yet land in Requests — accept, decline or block.

Multi-deviceLink another phone or tablet with a one-time PIN; your history transfers, encrypted.

Disappearing messagesA timer that deletes messages from every device in the chat.

The account switcher: three accounts on one phone and an Add account button — Multiple accounts on one phone

A chat: a sent photo with a heart reaction, and a reply quoting it — Photos, reactions and stickers in a chat

Questions

Honest answers.

The things people ask before they trust a messenger.

Do you need my phone number?

No. You create an account with a username and an email address. The email is used only to send you a confirmation code; it is never shown to other people, and nobody can find you by it unless you switch that on yourself.

Can Ovate read my messages?

No. Messages, calls and files are encrypted on your device, using keys that only your devices and your recipients' devices hold. Our servers relay ciphertext they cannot open, and once a message has been delivered we do not even keep that. You can check that nobody sits in the middle by comparing a Safety Number with your contact.

What happens if I lose my phone?

Your recovery phrase — generated on your device, never sent to us — signs you back in on a new phone with just your username. If you had a second device linked, it keeps working and can approve the new one. There is also an encrypted local chat backup; its key never leaves your device.

The honest consequence of zero-knowledge: with no recovery phrase and no signed-in device, nobody — including us — can restore the account. Set the phrase up early; the app reminds you until you do.

Is it free?

Yes. OvateChat is free to download and use, with no ads and no tracking. We don't sell data, because we don't have any worth selling.

Which devices can I use?

On iPhone from the App Store, and on Android from Google Play. You can link a second phone or tablet to the same account with a one-time PIN, and keep more than one account on the same phone.

How do calls stay private?

A call's audio and video are encrypted with keys derived from the same encrypted session as your messages, so only the devices on the call can decrypt them. Our servers only help the devices find each other. Nothing is recorded, and the camera and microphone are used only while you are on the call.

Private messaging.
No phone number.