---
id: 'messagerie'
part: 1
order: 3
title: 'Encrypted messaging'
---

<p class="part-num">
  PART 02 · FOUNDATIONS · <span class="lvl lvl-1">🟢</span>
</p>

## Encrypted messaging

The first move, the one that protects you fastest: leave WhatsApp, Messenger and Telegram for a genuinely encrypted (ideally open-source) messenger.

<div class="tablewrap">
  <table>
    <thead>
      <tr>
        <th>You leave</th>
        <th>You adopt</th>
        <th>Why</th>
      </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="old">WhatsApp</span>
        </td>
        <td>
          <span class="new">Signal</span>
        </td>
        <td>Same simplicity, without Meta or metadata harvesting</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="old">Messenger</span>
        </td>
        <td>
          <span class="new">Signal / SimpleX</span>
        </td>
        <td>Messenger isn't E2EE by default and was scanned under Chat Control 1.0</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="old">Telegram</span>
        </td>
        <td>
          <span class="new">Signal / SimpleX</span>
        </td>
        <td>Telegram isn't end-to-end encrypted by default</td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>
</div>

<ToolCard tool="t-signal">
  <Fragment slot="tags">
    <span class="tool-tag">🟢 Beginner</span>
    <span class="tool-tag">Replaces WhatsApp</span>
    <span class="tool-tag">🇺🇸 · open-source</span>
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="what">
    An encrypted messenger for your texts, calls, video and groups. The direct replacement for
    WhatsApp, just as simple.
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="why">
    End-to-end encryption by default, non-profit, an audited protocol that is the world standard.
    Almost no metadata kept, and the team has pledged to leave the EU rather than install scanning.
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="who">
    Everyone, starting today. It's the first and most useful step. One catch: a phone number, which
    you can hide behind a username.
  </Fragment>
  <ol slot="install">
    <li>
      Install from <b>signal.org</b> (App Store, Google Play, or the direct APK on Android).
    </li>
    <li>Confirm your number by SMS, then set a PIN.</li>
    <li>
      Settings &gt; Privacy: create a <b>username</b> to hide your number, and turn on{' '}
      <b>registration lock</b>.
    </li>
    <li>Invite your contacts. On desktop, link the desktop app to your phone.</li>
  </ol>
</ToolCard>

<ToolCard tool="t-simplex">
  <Fragment slot="tags">
    <span class="tool-tag">🟡 Intermediate</span>
    <span class="tool-tag">No identifier</span>
    <span class="tool-tag">🌍 · open-source</span>
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="what">
    An encrypted messenger with no account, no number and no identifier. You connect by sharing a
    link or QR code.
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="why">
    By design, even the servers can't know who talks to whom. It's currently the strongest option
    against metadata correlation.
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="who">
    Pseudonymous accounts, sensitive contacts, high-risk. A bit younger than Signal, with a few
    rough edges.
  </Fragment>
  <ol slot="install">
    <li>
      Install from <b>simplex.chat</b> (F-Droid, Google Play, App Store or APK).
    </li>
    <li>
      Pick a <b>local</b> display name (never your real name: it stays on your device).
    </li>
    <li>
      To add a contact, share a <b>one-time invitation link</b> or a QR code.
    </li>
    <li>Turn on the passcode lock, and (advanced) configure your own SMP servers.</li>
  </ol>
</ToolCard>

<ToolCard tool="t-session">
  <Fragment slot="tags">
    <span class="tool-tag">🟡 Intermediate</span>
    <span class="tool-tag">No phone</span>
    <span class="tool-tag">🌍 · open-source</span>
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="what">
    Signal-grade encryption, but with no phone number and onion routing.
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="why">
    Your identity is a random "Session ID." Traffic goes through a decentralised network (Lokinet)
    that sharply reduces metadata.
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="who">
    When a phone number is a liability. Smaller ecosystem, best kept for conversations that matter.
  </Fragment>
  <ol slot="install">
    <li>
      Install from <b>getsession.org</b> (all platforms).
    </li>
    <li>
      "Create account" generates your Session ID and a <b>recovery phrase</b>.
    </li>
    <li>Write the recovery phrase on paper: it's the only key to your account.</li>
    <li>Share your Session ID (or QR) with your contacts.</li>
  </ol>
</ToolCard>

<ToolCard tool="t-briar">
  <Fragment slot="tags">
    <span class="tool-tag">🔴 Advanced</span>
    <span class="tool-tag">Offline / P2P</span>
    <span class="tool-tag">Android · open-source</span>
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="what">
    A peer-to-peer messenger that works <b>with no internet</b>: over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct or
    Tor.
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="why">
    No server, so nothing to shut down or seize. Survives internet shutdowns and network censorship.
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="who">
    Protests, disasters, remote areas, blackouts. Android only, and both people need the app.
  </Fragment>
  <ol slot="install">
    <li>
      Install from <b>briarproject.org</b> or F-Droid (no iOS).
    </li>
    <li>
      Create a <b>local</b> account (nickname + password), stored only on the phone.
    </li>
    <li>Add a nearby contact by scanning their QR code, or remotely via a link.</li>
    <li>When the network is down, turn on Bluetooth: messages hop device to device.</li>
  </ol>
</ToolCard>

<ToolCard tool="t-bitchat">
  <Fragment slot="tags">
    <span class="tool-tag">🔴 Advanced</span>
    <span class="tool-tag">Bluetooth mesh</span>
    <span class="tool-tag">🌍 · open-source</span>
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="what">
    Jack Dorsey's mesh messenger: nearby phones relay messages hop by hop, with no internet, server
    or account.
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="why">
    End-to-end encryption (AES-256-GCM) and a "panic mode" that wipes everything with three taps on
    the logo.
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="who">Protests and blackouts, alongside Briar. Use with caution.</Fragment>
  <div class="box warn" slot="extra">
    <span class="lab">Caution: unaudited</span>
    <p>
      Its own repo warns it "has not received external security review." Great for resilience, but
      don't stake lives on it yet.
    </p>
  </div>
  <ol slot="install">
    <li>Install from the App Store (iOS) or the APK/GitHub (Android).</li>
    <li>Open the app and pick a nickname. No account to create.</li>
    <li>Nearby devices auto-discover over Bluetooth.</li>
    <li>In danger, triple-tap the logo to wipe everything (panic mode).</li>
  </ol>
</ToolCard>

<ToolCard tool="t-molly">
  <Fragment slot="tags">
    <span class="tool-tag">🔴 Advanced</span>
    <span class="tool-tag">Hardened Signal</span>
    <span class="tool-tag">Android · open-source</span>
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="what">
    A hardened build of Signal for Android, compatible with the same network.
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="why">
    Database encrypted at rest, automatic locking, and a "FOSS" variant fully free of Google
    services.
  </Fragment>
  <Fragment slot="who">
    Advanced users, especially on GrapheneOS, with a high threat model. Android only.
  </Fragment>
  <ol slot="install">
    <li>
      Add the Molly repo in F-Droid, or grab the APK from <b>molly.im</b>.
    </li>
    <li>
      Choose <b>Molly-FOSS</b> if you want zero Google dependencies.
    </li>
    <li>Register with your number (same network as Signal).</li>
    <li>Set a database password and automatic locking.</li>
  </ol>
</ToolCard>

<div class="box">
  <span class="lab">Against Chat Control</span>
  <p>
    Prefer <strong>open-source</strong> apps <strong>outside the big US platforms</strong>, whose
    teams have publicly pledged to leave the EU rather than install client-side scanning (Signal
    has). Reminder: if the OS itself enforces scanning, the app can't help, hence section 12.
  </p>
</div>