Frequently asked questions

No. There is no required account. The first time you open ARKK, your device generates a 12-word recovery phrase and a pair of cryptographic keys. That is your entire identity, no phone number, no email. You can optionally claim a username so people can find you by a handle, but nothing is tied to who you are.

Your ARKK ID is a short fingerprint of your public key. It is how people add you: you share your fingerprint, they share theirs. It contains no personal information and reveals nothing about who you are.

No, a username is optional. If you claim one, it is a public lookup handle that our server maps to your public key so people can find and add you by @name instead of a fingerprint. That username↔key mapping is the one durable thing we keep about you, and it can be compelled or exposed in a breach, so skip it if you want your identity to stay fully anonymous. You can add or remove it anytime; releasing it, or resetting your identity, retires the handle permanently so no one can reuse it. Either way, your ARKK ID and QR always work.

Yes, always. Every message, file, and voice note is sealed on your device using libsodium public-key cryptography and the recipient’s public key. Only the recipient’s device can open it. Our server relays ciphertext it cannot read and deletes it once delivered.

No. By default your messages persist on your device, your history is yours to keep. Disappearing messages are opt-in per chat: turn on the timer for a conversation and messages wipe 30 seconds after they are seen, on both sides. It is off until you choose it.

Encrypted ciphertext, and only until it is delivered, at most a few days if the recipient is offline, then it is erased. It also stores your public key so people can reach you, and, if you claimed one, your username↔key mapping — that mapping is the one durable record we keep. No message history, no plaintext, and no stored log of who talks to whom. To move a message the server briefly handles routing metadata like a recipient fingerprint and your network address, but it never sees content.

We cannot. There is no master key and no key escrow, the only keys that can decrypt your messages are on your and your recipient’s devices. If we were compelled to hand over what we hold, it would be your public key, any username↔key mapping you created, and ciphertext we can’t open (briefly). Never message content, and never a log of who you talk to.

No. Read receipts ship off by default. When you turn them on they are symmetric, you see them only if you send them, and, like every control signal, they travel inside the encryption where the server can’t read them.

Your identity is unrecoverable, by design. We never had your phrase, so there is no reset link and no support path that could restore it. Write the 12 words down when ARKK shows them and store them somewhere safe and separate from your phone.

Voice calls are coming soon. Today ARKK is text messaging, file attachments, and encrypted voice notes.

None. ARKK contains no ads, no in-app purchases, and no analytics. There is nothing to sell — your public key and any username you choose are used only for delivery and discovery, never sold or profiled. Even this website loads no third-party code and runs no tracking.

Encryption ends where your screen begins. ARKK can’t protect a message on a device that is already compromised by malware, a photograph someone takes of your screen, or a phone you are forced to unlock. And while it hides what you say, a network observer can still see when and roughly how much you send.

ARKK is built by Genroar. It is not affiliated with any government, intelligence agency, or advertising company. It is free to use.