Comparison

Circle Socials vs Rún

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Circle Socials

Discover digital profiles of people nearby in real-time. See social media links like Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn from others at the same location, facilitating real-world connections without swiping.

Highlights
  • Discover nearby digital profiles
  • View social media links (Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn)
  • Real-time location-based discovery
  • No swiping or matching required
  • Connect digital and physical presence
Features
Read full description

You see someone at a café, an event, or the gym and wonder: who are they? Circle Socials makes it easy to find out. The app shows you digital profiles – like Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn - from people at the same location as you, in real time. No swipes, no matches. Just the digital meeting the physical. Here’s how it works: When you open the app, you’ll see profiles of other users nearby. Tap to view their socials and learn more about who’s around you. Download and give it a try!

About

Rún

Read full description

Rún is a secure messenger built for people who refuse to compromise on privacy. Every message is end-to-end encrypted before it leaves your device, and the keys ratchet forward as you chat — so even if one key were ever exposed, the rest of the conversation stays sealed. No server, no company, and no government can read your conversations. Rún requires no account, no phone number, and no email address. There is nothing to link back to your identity. Contacts are added in person by scanning QR codes, or through a vouched introduction from someone you already trust — no central directory, no contact discovery, no social graph. All traffic is routed through the Tor network, hiding your IP address and location even from Rún's own relay. An observer monitoring your network sees only encrypted Tor traffic — they cannot tell who you are talking to or what you are saying. Messages are padded to fixed sizes, so not even the length of a message leaks. Messages live in memory only — they are never written to disk. Leave a chat or close the app, and they are gone. There is no message history to scroll through, no archive to subpoena, and no backup to leak. The relay stores only temporary encrypted blobs it cannot read, in inboxes that expire on their own. Your vault is encrypted at rest with AES-256 via SQLCipher, its key derived with Argon2id and protected by the device keychain, tied to this device only. You choose how hard it is to reach: • Decent — quick PIN unlock, with relaxed auto-lock and self-wipe timers. • Secure — the vault key is also bound to the Secure Enclave, behind Face ID or Touch ID. A seized phone strongly resists offline attacks. • Maximum — the PIN is replaced by a strong passphrase and the timers are at their tightest. Even a fully imaged phone stays shut. At every level Rún locks itself when idle, wipes after too many wrong unlock attempts, and self-destructs after a long stretch of inactivity — how strict is set by the level you choose. A wipe erases the encryption keys themselves, leaving nothing recoverable. Group chats live only on their members' phones — no group account, no member list. Each message goes privately to every member: the relay sees one message reach several inboxes, never who they are or a word of it. No analytics. No tracking. No advertising. No crash reporting. No cloud backups. By default it stays silent — no notifications — and you simply see your messages when you open the app. You can optionally turn notifications on; if you do, a content-free wake-up signal routes through Apple's push servers, which learn only that something arrived and when — never who it is from or what it says — and Rún tells you exactly this before you enable it. Rún is built for journalists, activists, whistleblowers, and anyone who believes private conversation is a fundamental right. Key features: - End-to-end encryption with forward secrecy (AES-256-GCM + Double Ratchet) - All traffic over Tor — your IP and location stay hidden - No account, phone number, or email required - In-person QR contact exchange and vouched introductions - Group chats with no group account or member list - Messages held in memory only — never stored on disk - Encrypted local vault (SQLCipher, Argon2id, device keychain) - Three protection levels: Decent, Secure, Maximum - Secure Enclave-bound vault key behind Face ID or Touch ID (Secure) - Passphrase instead of PIN (Maximum) - Auto-lock, wipe on repeated wrong attempts, self-destruct on inactivity - Message padding hides even message sizes - No analytics, tracking, ads, or crash reporting - Move phones with a sealed transfer, never a cloud backup - Available in 13 languages

Screenshots

Circle Socials4 screens
Rún4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Circle Socials at none against Rún's 4. Circle Socials also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.0). Rún's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs fortnightly). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Rún sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Circle Socials asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Circle Socials ships an update fortnightly, Rún every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
Circle Socials versus Rún: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCircle SocialsRún
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS14.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size81 MB31 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperCircle Network ABVikstrom Group AB

In-app purchases

None

Circle Socials

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Rún

One-time4
  • Buy me a coffee$0.99
  • Tip$3.99
  • Generous tip$7.99
Show 1 more
  • God like tip$79.99

Questions

Is Circle Socials free?
Circle Socials is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Rún free?
Rún is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Circle Socials or Rún have ads?
Neither Circle Socials nor Rún shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Circle Socials or Rún?
Circle Socials ships an update fortnightly, and Rún every 3 days. Most recently, Circle Socials was updated on October 13, 2026 and Rún on October 14, 2026.

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