Frequently asked

  • How do you pronounce XOs?

    Eks-ohs. As in the way you sign off a message to someone you actually like xoxo. The name is the product: like a game of tic-tac-toe, two marks, exactly two people, one game between them.

  • Why isn't XOs on the App Store?

    Because the App Store is a gatekeeper between you and the things you use. XOs installs directly from this page onto your device — no App Store account, no platform that can remove it, no review process, no middleman. It works like a website that lives on your home screen. That's a Progressive Web App, and it's exactly what XOs is.

  • How do I find someone on XOs?

    You find people the way old school spies found each other — deliberately. There's no username search, no directory, no algorithm suggesting people you might know. Every connection begins with a QR code shared between two people who have chosen each other. You share yours. They scan it. That's the only way in. The relay never knows how two people found each other — because they found each other before they ever touched the app.

  • What does redact mean — is it the same as unsend?

    Not quite. Unsend implies removing something before anyone saw it. Redact is more deliberate — like a classified document. The message is removed from the other person's device and replaced with a notice that something was there and was taken back. Your own copy stays, marked as redacted, because they were your words to begin with. You can redact one message, your entire side of a conversation, or everything across every conversation you've ever had. Your words, always.
    One important detail: redaction is initiated the moment you choose it, but the actual removal from the other person's device depends on both of you having been online. The signal is guaranteed to arrive — it just needs connectivity to get there.

  • What is burning my identity?

    Burning is the most complete exit short of deleting your account. It destroys your cryptographic identity — your key pair — and simultaneously redacts every message you've ever sent across every conversation, on every partner's device, at once. Your username is released. No record connects the old you to the new. If you choose to start again, you begin as a completely new identity — new key, new username, same app.
    Burning is irreversible. There is no recovery.

  • What happens when I block someone?

    When you block someone, both of your words are returned to both of you — simultaneously. Your messages are redacted from their device. Their messages are redacted from your device. Neither of you retains the other's words. What remains on both sides is a record that a conversation happened — tombstones where the messages were — but nothing of what was said.
    The conversation is frozen. They cannot reach you. You can lift the block from Settings at any time, at which point the conversation reactivates and either of you can send again. No rescan needed, no new invite — the relationship simply resumes, from a genuinely clean slate.

  • What happens when someone blocks me?

    The same thing, from the other direction. Your messages are redacted from their device — returned to you. Their messages are redacted from your device — returned to them. Neither of you has the other's words. Your words, always — even when someone else initiates the block.
    You'll know you've been blocked because you'll see your own messages replaced with redaction notices. You won't be able to send new messages into the conversation. If you try to reach them with a new invite, you'll see a neutral message that the invite couldn't be delivered.

  • Can XOs or anyone else read my messages?

    No. Messages are encrypted on your device before they leave it. The relay — the server that helps deliver messages — handles only encrypted payloads it cannot read. It discards each payload the moment the recipient acknowledges it. There is no stored message content anywhere outside of your device and the recipient's device.
    XOs cannot read your messages. The relay operator cannot read your messages. Apple and Google cannot read your messages. The only people who can read a conversation are the two people having it.

  • Is XOs end-to-end encrypted?

    Yes. Every message is encrypted on the sender's device using AES-256-GCM before it leaves. The encryption key for each message is derived from a shared secret established between your P-256 key and the recipient's P-256 key — a process called ECDH key agreement. Your private key never leaves your device. The relay never sees the keys or the content. It sees only encrypted payloads it cannot open. The relay never sees the content. It sees only encrypted payloads it cannot open.

  • Why don't my notifications show who messaged me or what they said?

    Because Apple, Google, and your lock screen can all read notification content — and XOs can't prevent that. So we put nothing in the notification. No sender name, no preview, no count. Just a wake signal that opens the app. Your messages are waiting for you there — not in a notification that anyone else could read.

  • What happens if I lose my device without backing up my key?

    Your identity cannot be recovered. There is no server-side backup, no password reset, no way for XOs to restore your account. Your key pair is your identity — it exists only on your device. If it's gone without a backup, the identity is gone permanently.
    This is deliberate. The same architecture that means nobody else can access your account means we can't either. Back up your key from Settings before switching devices or if you're worried about losing access.

  • What happens when someone deletes their account?

    When someone deletes their account, their messages are redacted from every conversation partner's device first — your side of any conversation you had with them shows tombstones where their messages were. You'll see a notice that the account was deleted. The conversation is closed — you can't send new messages into it. Their username is released and may be registered by someone else in future.

  • What happens if I delete my account?

    Your messages are redacted from every conversation partner's device before your account is removed. Your words come back to you. Every partner sees tombstones where your messages were. Your account, your key, and your username are gone permanently — there is no recovery.

  • What happens if I uninstall XOs?

    Your messages are removed from your device — but your words remain on the other person's device. Nothing is redacted. The conversation continues to exist on their side with your messages intact. If you reinstall and import your key, you can reconnect. If you want to retrieve your words before uninstalling, redact your side of each conversation first, or delete your account.