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Open Wollem, tap "Create account", and choose a username. There's no SIM, email, or phone number involved. The app generates a private account code and a recovery phrase for you, and asks you to set a password to protect the app on your device. Once you've safely written down your recovery phrase, you're ready to chat.

Your account code is a unique identifier for your Wollem account. Because there's no phone number tied to you, friends can add you by your username or by your account code. It's safe to share — it lets people reach you, but on its own it can't be used to sign in as you or read your messages.

The recovery phrase is a sequence of words generated when you create your account. It's the master key to your identity and your encrypted data. Because Wollem never stores your keys, this phrase is the only way to prove the account is yours and restore end-to-end encrypted history on a new device.

Write it down and store it somewhere safe and offline. Anyone with your recovery phrase could access your account, and no one — including us — can give it back to you if it's lost.

If you still have your recovery phrase, yes. Install Wollem on your new device, choose "Restore account", and enter your recovery phrase to regain access to your identity and your end-to-end encrypted data.

If you've lost both your device and your recovery phrase, we want to be honest: end-to-end encrypted content may be permanently unrecoverable. The keys lived only on your device, and we never had a copy. This is the trade-off that makes Wollem private — there's no master backdoor for us to use, which also means there's none for anyone else.

Your private chats and group chats are end-to-end encrypted using the Signal Protocol, so they're encrypted on your device and only decrypted on your contact's device. We can't read them because we never hold the keys. Voice and video calls are encrypted end-to-end as well. Regular chats are encrypted on our servers rather than end-to-end — see the next question for the difference.

Private chats (and group chats) are end-to-end encrypted with the Signal Protocol. Not even Wollem can read them.

Regular chats are encrypted on our servers — protected in transit and at rest, but not end-to-end. They're convenient for less sensitive conversations, but because the server can technically process them, they don't carry the same guarantee as a private chat. When in doubt, use a private chat.

For private chats, once a message has been delivered to everyone in the conversation, it's deleted from our servers — we act as a relay, not an archive. Wollem also allows only one active session per account, so signing in on a new device ends the old session. Your messages live in the app on your current device, not on our servers, which is why they aren't mirrored elsewhere.

Not simultaneously. Wollem keeps a single active session per account. Signing in on a new device signs you out of the previous one. This is a deliberate privacy choice — it means a forgotten or compromised login can't quietly mirror your messages in the background. You can still move to a new device using your recovery phrase.

From the servers tab, tap to create a new server, then add channels and threads to organize the conversation — much like a Discord-style community. To join an existing server, use an invite shared by a member. Servers are great for larger groups and topic-based discussion alongside your private one-to-one chats.

There are two layers. First, for private chats, messages are removed from our servers as soon as they've been delivered, so we don't keep an archive. Second, you can enable a disappearing-messages timer in a conversation so messages are also removed from the participants' devices after a set time. Together they keep conversations from lingering longer than you intend.

Chat folders let you group conversations — for example, work, family, or communities — so your most important chats stay easy to find. Create a folder, then add the chats you want in it. Folders are a local convenience and don't change the encryption or privacy of any conversation.

Wollem includes a screen lock so that even with your phone in hand, no one can open your chats without your passcode or device biometrics. You can enable or adjust it in the app's privacy settings. Combined with the single active session, it keeps your conversations protected on the one device that holds them.

Yes. Wollem is free to use. There are no ads and no trackers — you're not the product, and we don't monetize your data. Privacy is the point, not an upsell.

Wollem is available on iPhone today. Android and desktop versions are in the works. Until then, your account is tied to your single active session on iPhone — and you can move to a new device anytime with your recovery phrase.

Open the conversation or the person's profile and choose to block them. Blocking stops them from messaging or calling you. You can also report abuse from the same menu. Because we keep metadata to a minimum and can't read your private chats, reports rely on the information you choose to share with us — so include any context that helps us act.