Protocols

Every chat runs over one protocol. The app tells you which, and what that protocol protects, on the chat itself and in full under Settings → Protocols, where each one is set up.

The Matrix settings screen: what it protects, homeserver and Matrix ID — Each protocol says what it protects before you connect

At a glance

Protocol	Who can read your messages	To reach someone you need	History on a new device
XMTP	Only the people in the chat. Relays see that two inboxes talk, not what they say.	An Ethereum address or ENS name that has opened an XMTP app	Comes back from its nodes
Nostr	Only the participants. Relays see who receives a message and when, never who sent it.	A public key (`npub…`)	Only what your relays still hold
Status	Only the participants. The nodes you go through see which topics you read, not the content.	A chat key (`zQ3sh…`) or a `status.app` link	Only what the store nodes still hold
Telegram	Telegram. Not end-to-end encrypted, same as the official app.	A `@username`, a `t.me` link, or a phone number in your contacts	Yes, from Telegram
Matrix	Only the chat's members, in chats with encryption on. The homeserver sees who talks to whom and when.	`@user:server` or a `matrix.to` link	Yes, from the homeserver; encrypted chats also need the keys

XMTP, Nostr and Status work the moment your account exists, because your recovery phrase holds your keys for them. Telegram and Matrix are accounts you already have elsewhere, so you sign in to them.

Unread badges use each protocol's available history. Telegram and Matrix report their own counts; for XMTP, Status and Nostr the app counts the messages it has since you last read the chat.

Messages between Ethereum accounts, encrypted with MLS. Groups work, and the protocol itself enforces who is a member. The other person must have opened an XMTP app at least once; if they have not, the app says so when you try to start the chat.

Set up

Nothing to set up. Two settings are there if you need them:

Settings → XMTP environment switches between the production environment and the developer one. Two apps only see each other on the same one.
Settings → Devices lists the phones and computers that share your inbox, and revokes one you no longer have.

What works

DMs and groups. Group details show the description, image and member count when they are set.
On phones, you can delete a message you sent. Deleting asks other apps to hide it; copies already held by nodes or other participants stay.

What it does not do

On the desktop, deletions from others show, but you cannot delete your own messages yet.
There is no list of public groups, and no admin-only posting.
There is no join-by-link in XMTP itself. Invite links need a separate app service.

Nostr

Sealed DMs (NIP-17): relays deliver them without learning who sent them.

Set up

Under Settings → Protocols → Nostr you choose the relays, one per line. The defaults are public ones. More relays means better delivery, and also more servers that see when you receive something.

What works

DMs, and groups with a fixed set of participants, both over NIP-17.

What it does not do

Relays may drop messages or forget history, so a new device only sees what your relays still hold.
NIP-17 groups have no public identifier and no admin moderation.
NIP-29 relay groups are a different protocol, and are not supported.
NIP-17 allows asking for a message to be deleted, but the app does not send or act on those requests yet.

Status

DMs and groups with people who use the Status app, over the Status network. Statim speaks Status's own chat protocol. Communities are not supported.

Set up

Nothing to set up. Your Status identity comes from your recovery phrase the same way the Status app derives it, so importing the phrase you use in Status makes you the same person in both apps.

Settings → Protocols → Status shows your address, the zQ3sh… chat key Status users add you by. You can also set a Display name there, which Status users see instead of your chat key. It must be 5 to 24 letters, digits, spaces, _ or -: Status drops every message whose sender name breaks those rules, so the app will not connect with such a name. Tap Save and reconnect after changing it.

Starting a chat

Your first message goes out as a Status contact request, which is how the Status app decides to show a chat at all. Until they accept, it waits in their notifications. A contact request from a Status user arrives under Requests, and accepting it adds them back.

Groups

Status groups are a signed log of membership changes that every member checks.

You can only add people who accepted your contact request.
The creator is the group's owner and adds or removes people.
Any member can rename the group, and anyone can leave.
An invitation from someone you have not added waits under Requests.

What works

Replies, mentions, reactions, photos, voice notes, edits and deletions, both ways.
You can edit your own text and captions, delete your own messages for everyone, and delete any message for yourself only. Group admins can delete other people's messages.
Profile pictures and group pictures set in Status show here too.

What it does not do

Stickers from Status show as a line saying what they were.
There are no polls, pins or presence.
If the same recovery phrase is also in the Status app, a contact's messages reach Statim only after Statim has written to them, and the two apps do not share history.

Encryption

The messages you send are encrypted to the other person's chat key with a one-off key per message, so they have no forward secrecy. Once you have written to someone, their Status app encrypts its replies to this device with a Double Ratchet, and Statim follows it.

Using your own node

Statim reaches the Status network through Status's own nodes, as the Status app does. It asks them for the messages addressed to you, hands them yours to pass on, and fetches what arrived while it was closed. Those nodes see your network address and which topics you follow, never what the messages say.

To go through a node you run instead, start nwaku on the Status network somewhere your phone can reach, and enter its REST address (http://your-host:8645) as the Status node URL:

bash

wakunode2 --cluster-id=16 --shard=32 --relay=true \
  --dns-discovery=true --discv5-discovery=true \
  --dns-discovery-url=enrtree://AMOJVZX4V6EXP7NTJPMAYJYST2QP6AJXYW76IU6VGJS7UVSNDYZG4@boot.prod.status.nodes.status.im \
  --storenode=/dns4/store-01.do-ams3.status.prod.status.im/tcp/30303/p2p/16Uiu2HAmAUdrQ3uwzuE4Gy4D56hX6uLKEeerJAnhKEHZ3DxF1EfT \
  --max-msg-size=1024KiB --rest=true --rest-address=0.0.0.0 \
  --rest-relay-cache-capacity=1000

That node relays every Status DM and group on its shard, a few messages a second, and hands the app what is addressed to you. Keep --max-msg-size: Status sends photos inline, up to 1 MiB, and nwaku drops anything over 150 KiB by default.

Your own Telegram account, in the same chat list: DMs, groups and channels. Telegram works everywhere except Android.

Not end-to-end encrypted

Telegram's servers hold and can read these chats, exactly as with the official app. Secret Chats are not opened here. Every Telegram chat says so.

Set up

The Telegram settings screen: API ID and API hash — Telegram asks for your own API credentials

Get an API ID and API hash at my.telegram.org → API development tools. Telegram issues every developer their own pair. This app ships none, so each person registers theirs; it takes a minute and nothing about it is shared.
Enter both under Settings → Protocols → Telegram and tap Save and reconnect.
The screen then asks for your phone number, the code Telegram sends to your other devices or by SMS, and your two-step verification password if you have one.

You appear in Telegram's Active Sessions like any other client. Sign out on the same screen ends the session there and deletes Telegram's data from this device.

Messages

Replies, reactions, photos, video, files and voice notes.
You can edit your own text, delete a message for everyone when Telegram allows it, and delete any message for yourself only. Group admins can delete other people's messages.
Pin messages where the chat allows it, and open the pinned list from the top of the chat.
Polls show their results and let you vote. Where you can post, /poll "Question" "First choice" "Second choice" creates an anonymous single-choice poll.
Search works in one chat or across chats, and Telegram searches its own history. Other protocols search only the messages the app has stored or loaded.
In groups, typing @ suggests members, with or without a username. The Mentions filter shows chats with unread Telegram mentions or replies.
DMs show typing, and online or last seen.
Drafts and chats marked unread are saved to your Telegram account, so they follow you to your other devices.

Groups and channels

Channels are read-only for members; administrators post.
Group and channel details show the description, link, photo and member count when Telegram provides them.
To join a public group or channel, paste its @username or t.me link in New message, look at the preview, then join.
Private invite links preview there too. A link that needs approval sends a join request instead of opening the chat.

For administrators

Create invite links, plain or needing approval, from the details screen.
Approve or decline join requests on the same screen. The chat's title bar counts them as they arrive.
With the right to restrict members, set slow mode in group details, and mute, remove or ban a member from their profile.

Matrix

Your own Matrix account: encrypted groups and DMs on any homeserver, plus whatever that homeserver bridges in. See WhatsApp, Signal & friends.

What your homeserver needs

Check two things with whoever runs it:

It must support sliding sync (Synapse 1.114 or newer, or the Conduit family). Element X needs the same thing.
Sign-in must be by password. Servers that only offer a web sign-in, as matrix.org now does, are not supported yet.

Set up

Under Settings → Protocols → Matrix, enter your homeserver URL (the server's address, such as https://matrix.example.org) and your Matrix ID (@you:example.org), then Save and reconnect.
Enter your password once. The app keeps a session token, not the password.

Invitations arrive as requests; accepting one joins the chat.

Encryption

Chats with encryption on are end-to-end encrypted. A message sent before this device joined shows as waiting for its keys. That is how Matrix encryption works, not a fault.

Messages

Edits, deletions, pins, mentions, typing, video and polls.
Where you can post, /poll "Question" "First choice" "Second choice" creates a poll.
DMs show online or last seen when the homeserver shares it.
Search reaches the homeserver's history for chats without encryption.
Chats marked unread are saved to your Matrix account.

Groups and channels

Chat details show the description, picture, link and member count.
Who may post comes from the chat's Matrix power levels. A group where only some members post shows as a channel, with a read-only composer for the rest.
Paste a group's address (#name:server), ID or matrix.to link in New message to preview it. Public groups can be joined; groups that take requests get a join request from you.
A preview of a group you have not joined always says "Group", because who may post is only known after joining. Once you join, it says "Channel" if only some members post.

For administrators

Create an invite link. A link that needs approval lets people ask to join, and their requests wait under Join requests in the chat's details.
Mute, remove or ban a member. Muting lowers the member's power level below what sending needs.

Bridged chats

In a chat bridged to another network, everything above is what Matrix can do. The bridge has to carry each action to the network at the far end, and what it carries depends on the bridge, how it is set up and that network's API. A Matrix poll, for example, may stay on the Matrix side without becoming a poll on the other network. See bridges.