Towns vs graygate

Towns combines group chat with a self-custody wallet — so you can gather your community, talk markets, share ideas, and hold your assets directly. - Group chat built for communities - Self-custodied wallet — you control your keys - Send, receive, and manage assets on your terms - Your wallet. Your keys. Your conversations.

graygate is an end-to-end encrypted messenger built for privacy. Messages are encrypted on your device before they are sent, and the server can only relay ciphertext. It gives people a way to talk safely even where free expression is suppressed. WHAT THE SERVER DOES NOT KNOW • Your private key is created on your device and never leaves the iOS Keychain. • Room keys are derived from the room password on each device. The server holds only a hash to check whether the password is correct. • Encrypted messages wait on the server for at most 14 days so the recipient can pick them up. Once delivered, they are deleted immediately. • Push notifications carry no content, no sender and no room name. Only the fact that something new arrived. LEFT OUT ON PURPOSE • No read receipts. Delivery is the last thing reported. • No online or typing indicators. • No cloud backup. Conversations live on your device only. • No ads, no analytics, no phone number, no social login. PROTECTION ON THE DEVICE • App lock with Face ID, or an app PIN on devices without biometrics. • Content is hidden in the app switcher, and a screenshot taken inside a room is announced to that room. • Auto-delete per room: 1, 7 or 30 days. • Key fingerprint check: compare 12 words and a group of digits to catch a server that tries to swap keys in the middle. ROOMS • One-to-one chats, group rooms, and channels where an admin posts and members reply with comments. • Photos and videos are encrypted the same way as text. Videos are saved to your album rather than played inside the app. • Removing a member always rotates the room key, so they cannot read anything that follows. GOOD TO KNOW • graygate is invite-only. You need an invite code from an existing user to create an account. • If you switch devices, your past conversations do not follow you. That is by design. • A 12-word recovery phrase resets your password and app PIN. It does not bring back past conversations. • Who joined which room, and when a device connected, is stored on the server. Per-message forward secrecy is not provided. • You must be at least 16 years old to use graygate. Terms of Service: https://graygate.app/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://graygate.app/privacy/