Keychat

Keychat 1.37.2 is now available 🎉 GitHub: https://github.com/keychat-io/keychat-app/releases App Store: https://apps.apple.com/sg/app/keychat-io/id6447493752 You can also find Keychat on ZapStore. Keychat is also available on desktop, and we highly recommend giving it a try. Main updates: 1. Fixed a wallet bug that could appear when paying Lightning invoices if your connection dropped mid-payment. If you’ve seen wallet errors before, please go to Wallet Settings (top-right corner of the wallet screen) in the new version and tap “Restore From Mint Server” and “Check Proofs”. 2. Better compatibility with Nostr DMs (NIP-17 and NIP-4). Keychat now receives and replies to Nostr DMs by default. You can turn Nostr DM off in Chat Settings if you prefer. 3. The in-app browser now supports file downloads. 4. Added support for GIFs and reactions (the current reaction UI is still quite basic and will be improved over time). 5. Added Shosho Live nostr:npub1sh0spghk4yvy2d2v35kelw45qq4msk6zykaw4ds047e9slzs8r4qr7q2xa and Hivetalk nostr:npub1z0lcg9p2v5nzg5fycxq0k56ze6snp42clmrafzqpn5w6u74v5x9q708ldk to the Mini App list. You may run into some issues when using Hivetalk; we’re still working on improving it. Your feedback is very welcome. Note: the Mini App list is not a Mini App Store and not the main entry point for using Mini Apps. To use any Mini App, just type its URL into the browser search bar in Keychat. nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpwleyw4fy3sxt7yvgrran0mpenxqlululur94r9jlax0hd3q3rc7qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqyg8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnhd9hx2qg5waehxw309aex2mrp0yhxgctdw4eju6t0qyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqqyp55n77npg3jwdk6wr4gttl3fgmuw7x3n3rf9592x5wkakk53m75644krp3

Many users care deeply about whether Keychat will eventually support a true multi-device experience, where the same ID can be used seamlessly across several devices. Keychat relies on ratchet algorithms from the Signal and MLS protocols, deriving a fresh encryption key for every single message and discarding it after use. This makes the system inherently stateful—the cryptographic state on each device is constantly evolving—and it ensures that both past and future messages remain protected even if a device’s encryption state is later compromised. This property is known as forward secrecy and backward secrecy (also called post-compromise security). For exactly this reason, Keychat cannot behave like Nostr DMs (NIP-4, NIP-17), which reuse a static encryption key and therefore lack forward and backward secrecy, or like Telegram, which by default does not use end-to-end encryption, and simply allow the same ID to be logged in and used actively on multiple devices at the same time. When we think about multi-device support in Keychat, we can start from a baseline design. Suppose Alice and Bob each have a smartphone and a computer with Keychat installed. When they chat, those four devices can conceptually form a four-device group, where each pair of devices maintains its own secure session. From there, we still need a more refined design that improves this experience and avoids relying on centralized servers.

In the past, we largely overlooked this Lightning Pub–style design direction.https://lightning.pub Most conversations about “second-best” Lightning wallet models tend to focus on large global hubs—custodial Lightning wallets or new protocols like Ark and Spark. It’s worth stepping back and mapping out the design space more clearly. When users run their own Lightning nodes and channels, they are both part of a decentralized network and in full custody of their own funds. This is the ideal wallet model. In reality, not everyone can do this. That opens up a design space for “second-best” solutions, mainly along two axes: the degree of centralization and the degree of third-party custody. It’s important to note that centralization and third-party custody do not always perfectly overlap. In other words, a centralized architecture does not necessarily mean that 100% of funds are fully custodial at all times. 1. For wallets like Coinos and Wallet of Satoshi, they are both global hubs and fully custodial: user funds are entirely under the control of the service operator. 2. Ark and Spark also move in the direction of global hubs. They still follow a server–client architecture, but their goal is to allow users to exit unilaterally. If the service fails, users should still be able to move their funds back on-chain into UTXOs they control, getting as close as possible to self-custody. However, their default transfers do not achieve Lightning’s instant finality. There is a time window in which the service provider and the previous owner of the funds (and in many cases, the operator is also the previous owner) could theoretically collude to double-spend. During those windows, users are not at 100% self-custody over their funds. 3. Lightning Pub takes a different path: its goal is to let more technically capable users provide custodial wallets to their friends and become local micro-hubs. Its focus is on lowering the technical barrier for “sharing your own Lightning node and channels” with people around you. That’s why Lightning Pub: 1. uses Nostr IDs as the basis for its built-in multi-user account system, and 2. uses encrypted messages relayed over Nostr relays (DM/RPC) to connect front-end wallets with the back-end node. So Lightning Pub is the Nostr-native Lightning node. In this sense, Lightning Pub effectively gives more people the opportunity to run their own small Wallet of Satoshi / Coinos–style custodial Lightning wallet, but scoped to a local circle of friends. Because these relationships are often built on existing social trust, the risks normally associated with third-party custody are partially mitigated. Once large, obvious centralized service hubs emerge, whether they are traditional custodial Lightning wallets or large Ark/Spark operators, they become much easier targets for regulators and governments to shut down. nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpwleyw4fy3sxt7yvgrran0mpenxqlululur94r9jlax0hd3q3rc7qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hj7qghwaehxw309aex2mrp0yhxummnw3ezucnpdejz7qpq0xfd8a6y4rq6pvd4gmnxrafln2h3shs74ustmzdawk7jax9y8wcs8a7hj2

Our first AQSTR campaign, Help the world discover Keychat, has now concluded. Thank you to everyone who participated, and to AQSTR for providing such a beautifully designed tool. nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpwleyw4fy3sxt7yvgrran0mpenxqlululur94r9jlax0hd3q3rc7qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqyg8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnhd9hx2qg5waehxw309aex2mrp0yhxgctdw4eju6t0qyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqqyp55n77npg3jwdk6wr4gttl3fgmuw7x3n3rf9592x5wkakk53m75644krp3

We’re incredibly grateful to all the users who’ve been recommending Keychat. Keychat relies on our users’ word of mouth to reach more people. nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpqaddssj6dd9e2825hr30y97xcstn6ja0z5hc0ycs7k2llda36t3qyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhgqpqswcwmg4lukdedppj5cmsezf6pay53ww44pqll34wwxg44370dtxsdzswk5

Here are two more mini-games you can play in Keychat. https://nostrwars.com/ https://blockstr.io/

https://v.nostr.build/0x5J9Con7YoRjZ1B.mp4 nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzq9q4mfexn3ystklwrwecphwqd9ld9u0q8lqaps04f58s8q4254phqyg8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnddakj7qg4waehxw309aex2mrp0yhxgctdw4eju6t09uqzquzuzplxadt2t3pqprkjchjzhy9zmwngddnw8ggvx3fp9307ch6zpv8kfj

We feel that AQSTR nostr:npub1dsn6t2szka5uddgl6lkasrzmyxum5vkpdkgnk27gu9shldzhx6qqj92h64 could become the Product Hunt of Nostr, and that more and more apps will start launching there. We discovered ZapWork nostr:nprofile1qy8hwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnddaksz9rhwden5te0wfjkccte9ejxzmt4wvhxjmcqyq2ptknjd8zfqhd7uxansrwuq6t76tc7q07p6rql2ng0qwp24f2rw3lq7du while browsing AQSTR.

Keychat doesn’t remake the beads — it simply threads the pearls that already exist into a coherent whole. nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpwleyw4fy3sxt7yvgrran0mpenxqlululur94r9jlax0hd3q3rc7qyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqzpjdpg84zhnqnxyvjzusnhk7dtqajlyyk4vtahkhlr6u6ftjntdzh92jjc4

nostr:npub1jfujw6llhq7wuvu5detycdsq5v5yqf56sgrdq8wlgrryx2a2p09svwm0gx We love how Stacker News charges 1 sat per reply — it immediately made us think of Keychat relays, where a 1-sat digital stamp is required before a message gets forwarded. If Stacker News added an “Open Wallet” button beneath the invoice, paying right inside the Keychat browser would feel much smoother.

Non-technical users can verify whether Keychat’s high-level design is sound — you don’t have to be a developer to do so. nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpdsnykwha740h8l2250dyljy0ms8dj3n56ajewp7ay62d6sm4d26qy28wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hsqg9jdju8ltaza4ks52rydry766x70yuv962l0xufs6wzqd39xyqphcu7v90m

In the Keychat browser, you can log in to Stacker.news with your Keychat ID and start posting right away — that’s the power of an autonomous public-key ID. https://stacker.news/items/1288892

Keychat’s goal of building an autonomous online Me serves as the thread that strings together existing beads — the Nostr protocol, Bitcoin graduated wallets (currently Cashu ecash), the Signal and MLS protocols, and Web Apps via WebView. nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpwleyw4fy3sxt7yvgrran0mpenxqlululur94r9jlax0hd3q3rc7qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqy28wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hsz9nhwden5te0wfjkccte9ehx7um5wghxyctwvsqzq62fl0fs5ge8xmd8p6594lc55d780rgec35j6z4r28twmt2gal2dvwwqhr

When you use multiple Chat IDs in Keychat, you don’t have to inconveniently switch back and forth — all your IDs are displayed as tabs across the top.