It is a whistleblowing tool not a messaging app
this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2025
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Wow... More... Messengers
It isn't a messager
This is a significantly different use case than a secure chat application that most in these comments are discussing. This system is more interesting for the obfuscation of the data, not the secure communication itself which is just x25519 public key encrypted messages. It's the fact that intercepting the relevant messages from actual whistleblowers and informants is made very difficult. It's not a chat application.
It technically is a chat app but it is specialized and built into the guardian app
Not really. It's not a real time message and there will be no status or read notification or any other realtime feedback that I would call a chat app. It can't be realtime because the messages have to be split into chunks and those chunks are sent at regular intervals not all at once. The idea is that it there will be a constant flow of messages going to the news organization and only some of the will contain chunks of actual messages. And if the chunks are configured to be small and/or the frequency of messages is low, then if the message is large it could take a while for the full message to be transmitted. It's closer to an encrypted email system than to a chat system TBH.
standards.xkcd
TL;DR
-There are 15 competing standards-
"I'm tired of this shit! I'm going to make a single, universal standard!"
-There are 16 competing standards-
I'm not sure if you can call something TL;DR if it's literally the full text of the comic.
I think that was from memory, the numbers differ from the comic iirc
That was my first thought, but it's actually a library for newsreader-type apps that lets a communication happen without exposing the whistleblower (it's like a digital deaddrop - just a tiny change in everyday routines).
I had a quick look and they're doing the things they need to like certificate pinning, so even corporate-level MITM wouldn't be seeing any unusual traffic. I assume they're also blocking access to the screen like banking apps do, which is more secure but annoying for normal users.
takes picture of screen from another device yep, so secure.
It's more about things similar to Microsoft Recall, I don't think whistleblowers are going to send their messages where other people can see their screen.
People have pointed out other secure, open-source messaging apps, but this is still pretty damn cool.
This is an excellent idea. This should be taken further though to protect readers too, in the age of surveillance capitalist fascism.
... As in a universal FOSS app for "news" where you can subscribe to both orgs and journalists (replacing substack), with zero tracking and zero knowledge subscriptions/donations, allowing users to subscribe/donate without any org or gov knowing which individuals are subscribed to which services, reading what content, communicating with which journalists, etc.
CoverDrop licensed under Apache-2.0
In the meanwhile
Here are some open source messaging apps that are made to last:
- SimpleX
- Licensed under AGPL-3.0
- Monocles
- Licensed under GPL-3.0
- Monocles English README
You are comparing Apples and oranges
Also you left out Signal for some reason. It is the most popular and well known encrypted messaging app.
Not sure why Revolt is mentioned as it doesn't even use E2EE.
Fair enough
I've replaced Revolt with Monocles in my original comment