For Signal and Wire users, on iOS and Android
Signal and Wire lock down the conversation. ANCROM also locks down everything around it: no phone number to hijack, a duress PIN that wipes your data in silence, and a calculator that only opens for you (iOS). Post-quantum encrypted, with sealed sender. Built in Germany.
Sealed Sender
Before a message leaves your phone, ANCROM encrypts the whole envelope, sender included. Our relay only gets what it needs to deliver: an anonymous address for the recipient. Who wrote it, which conversation it belongs to and what it says stay sealed.
Like any server, the relay still sees the network connection itself (IP address and time). It keeps no access logs.
This is the complete outside of an ANCROM message, as our relay sees it. Envelopes are padded to fixed sizes, so the first message to a new contact looks like any other.
Stealth mode on iOS
On your home screen, ANCROM is a calculator. Type your secret code, press = and your chats appear. Anyone else who picks up your phone sees exactly that: a calculator.
Coming from Signal or Wire
Encryption protects messages in transit. It can't help when your number gets hijacked, your phone is taken at a border, or someone makes you unlock it. That's where ANCROM starts.
Your account hangs on a phone number - and can be re-registered with an SMS code, exactly what phishing campaigns go after. Number-free sign-up is only a beta on Android so far. ANCROM: no number, no SMS code, no re-registration. Your private keys never leave your phone.
Wire needs an email address, lets people find you by search and is built around organisations. ANCROM needs a password. That's it. No directory, no search - contacts only by QR code, link or one-time code.
A duress PIN that wipes your data and leaves an app that looks freshly installed. A wipe code at login. A calculator that hides your chats (iOS). Built for the moment your phone isn't in your hands.
No need to switch. Keep Signal or Wire for everyday chats - use ANCROM for the conversations that must never be found on your phone. Same proven foundations: Double Ratchet, forward secrecy, post-quantum key exchange. And honest about the differences.
Most messengers were built to grow on your data. ANCROM was built to protect it. No phone number. No email. No ads. No tracking.
Your private life is private. Messages, photos and plans - readable only on your phone and theirs.
Client matters stay between you and your client. No phone number on the account, no message archive on our servers.
Protect your sources. No phone number ties the account to you - and if your device is about to be seized, one code wipes it.
Strategy talk without a paper trail on our side. Messages sit on our relay only encrypted, and only until they're delivered.
The things you only say to each other - readable on exactly two phones.
Unreleased products, confidential numbers, open questions - end-to-end encrypted, never readable by a server.
A password is all it takes. Nothing to fill in - and no SMS code anyone could phish to steal your account.
The whole envelope is encrypted, sender included. Our relay knows where to deliver a message, not who sent it.
Our relay holds a message, encrypted, only until it's delivered - 24 hours max. No history, no contact lists, no backups.
Calculator, Notes or Weather on the outside. Your chats on the inside - behind a secret code.
Forced to unlock? Your duress PIN silently erases everything. Or type 0000 at login to wipe it all on the spot.
Each message gets its own key - deleted right after use. A key stolen tomorrow can't open what you sent today.
No usernames, no directory, no address-book upload. Scan in person, or pair with a one-time code on a call and compare a number - either way you know it's really them.
No form, no email, no phone number. Your password and a key pair on your phone - that's your whole identity.
Scan each other's QR code in person - or, far apart, pair with a one-time code on a call. Only people you've added can reach you. Full guide
Messages are encrypted on your phone, sealed for the recipient, forwarded by our relay and deleted once they're delivered.
Contact pairing
Together? Scan each other's QR code. Far apart? One of you creates a one-time code and reads it out on a call, the other types it in. Both phones then show the same six-digit number: compare it, both tap Same number, and you're connected. One code adds you to each other.
The code works once and expires after 10 minutes. Our relay never sees its secret part. Someone who overhears the code still can't slip in unnoticed: you wouldn't see the same number on both screens.
Messages are encrypted on your phone - we never hold the keys. Our relays keep an encrypted message only until it's delivered and keep no access logs. We never ask for your phone number, email or name, so we can't give them away.
Here's exactly what's left - because privacy-minded people ask.
Encrypted, unreadable to us, and deleted as soon as the recipient's phone has fetched it.
Your identity is a key pair generated on your phone. Our relays do not keep access logs.
The complete list of what a request could reach: undelivered sealed messages, the anonymous addresses they're sent to, and public keys.
None of it can be decrypted without the keys on your phone. None of it says who you are.
No marketing tricks - just verifiable facts.
| Feature | ANCROM | Signal | Wire |
|---|---|---|---|
| End-to-end encryption by default | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Account without phone number or email | Yes | BetaAndroid, since 09/2026 | Noemail required |
| Account can't be moved to another phone with a code or password | Yes | NoSMS code | Noemail + password |
| Duress PIN that silently wipes all data | Yes | No | No |
| Emergency wipe code at login | Yes | No | No |
| Disguise as a working calculator | YesiOS | Icon only | No |
| Contacts only via QR code, link or one-time code - no directory | Yes | Nophone number, username | Nouser search |
| Company based in | Germany | USA | Switzerland |
As of October 2026, based on the providers' public documentation. Signal: number-free registration in public beta on Android since September 2026; alternative app icons since 2023. Where Signal and Wire are ahead - for example independent security analyses - is explained in our FAQ.
Why a subscription
Every messenger has to be paid for somehow - by advertising, by data, by donations or by investors. ANCROM is paid for by the people who use it. That way we only answer to them.
The app contains no advertising, no analytics and no tracking. Subscriptions are how ANCROM is funded, so your data is never part of the deal.
Our relays run with an EU-based hosting provider, hardened, without access logs and without backups of your messages. That costs money every month - with or without ads.
Security updates, new protection like sealed sender, and the independent security audit we are preparing. Built and maintained in Germany.
Prices may vary by country and platform. Payment is handled entirely by Apple or Google - we never see your payment details. See our Terms.
Download ANCROM and protect the conversations that matter most. 19.99 USD per month.
iOS and Android. No phone number. Cancel anytime.
