Haven Private Circles vs Howdlo
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Haven Private Circles
A private social network focused on secure sharing with close friends and family. It offers end-to-end encrypted posts, messages, and calls, with no ads or tracking. Content is shared directly between devices or via relays, ensuring privacy.
- Private circles for specific groups
- End-to-end encrypted posts, photos, videos, and stories
- Direct and group messaging with secret messages
- Group voice and video calls with screen sharing
- Cross-device synchronization
- Disappearing posts
- Offline nearby sharing via Bluetooth/Wi-Fi
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Haven is a private social network for the people who actually matter. No ads. No tracking. No algorithm deciding what you see. No company server holding your memories. Everything you share is end-to-end encrypted with hybrid post-quantum cryptography and travels between your devices over the internet — directly, or through a relay that can't read it — or over Bluetooth and Wi‑Fi when you're together offline. Even we can't read it. • Private circles — share with family and close friends in separate, invite‑only circles, and always see exactly who a post will reach • Posts, photos, videos & stories — with a modern camera, easy captions, and a song • Direct & group messages — with sender names, timestamps, and delivery checks, plus scheduled and screenshot‑protected secret messages • Group voice & video calls — 1:1 and group, with screen sharing, peer‑to‑peer, no call server in the middle • All your devices in sync — start on iPhone, pick up on iPad or Mac; your posts and messages follow you • Disappearing posts — you decide how long things stick around • Nearby sharing — works with no internet at all, phone to phone • Your relay does the heavy lifting — photos and videos go up once to a relay you run and friends fetch them from there, so your phone stays cool; or keep memories on your own S3 bucket • Stays out of your way — big transfers wait while you're on a call, or when your device is hot or in Low Power Mode • No account, no phone number, no email — your identity lives only on your device Haven is a stronghold for the people you love. It's built so that no one — not advertisers, not data brokers, not even the people who made it — can get between you and your circle.
Howdlo
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Howdlo is where your chats and your communities finally live in one beautiful place. MESSAGE LIKE YOU MEAN IT • Fast 1:1 and group chats with replies, reactions, edits, and read receipts • Photos, video clips, voice notes, and file attachments • Live polls and collaborative sheets — decide things together, right in the chat HANG OUT IN HANGOUTS • Discord-style communities with channels, roles, and permissions • Voice lounges: tap in, talk, tap out — no calls to schedule • Breakaway convos when a thread deserves its own room DROP A LINE • Drops are 24-hour posts over gorgeous aurora gradients or your photos • See friends' Drops in a strip at the top of your chats — tap through like stories CALL WITHOUT FRICTION • 1:1 voice and video calls, peer-to-peer and private YOURS, PRIVATELY • Email-code sign-in — no passwords to remember, no phone number required • Block and report anyone; delete your account in-app, instantly • No ads. No trackers. We don't sell your data. Ever. Howdlo — Hang Out, Write, Drop Lines Online.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is device support: Haven Private Circles at 4 against Howdlo's 1. On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Haven Private Circles | Howdlo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 62 MB | 85 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Blaine Miller | BorgMobile |
In-app purchases
Haven Private Circles
No in-app purchases
Howdlo
No in-app purchases








