StrTalk FAQ
How StrTalk works, and the questions we are asked most. If yours is not here, the support page says how to reach us.
The short version
- We cannot read your messages. Every message, photo, video and voice note is end-to-end encrypted — in groups too.
- Photos and videos self-delete from our server. 30 days after they are sent, they are gone. Devices keep what they downloaded.
- No phone number. No email. No password. Your wallet signs you in, so there are no contact details to ask for — or to leak.
- Your address book stays yours. StrTalk never asks for your contacts, and there is no list of users to browse.
- Groups are invite-only. There are no public groups, and nobody appears in your conversations uninvited.
- Delete means delete. A message deleted for everyone leaves our server within minutes; a conversation everyone has left is wiped in about a day.
- No ads, no trackers. There is no advertising, analytics or tracking code in the app.
- One phone at a time. Signing in on a new phone signs the old one out — nobody reads along on a second device.
- Blocking is instant and silent. Their messages and calls stop reaching you, and they are not told.
- Leaving is easy. Delete your account in the app, or from the web without reinstalling.
Account and signing in
How do I sign in? Where is my password?
There is no password. Your identity is a STR domain — an NFT your wallet holds — and you sign in by connecting that wallet and signing a message with it. So when sign-in fails, it is almost always the wallet:
- Check the wallet app is the one holding the STR domain NFT, and that it is on the right network.
- If the wallet opens and nothing comes back, close both apps fully and try again — a wallet session left half-open is the usual cause.
Why can I only be signed in on one phone?
Because it is a privacy feature, not a fault. One phone is signed in at a time; signing in on a new phone signs the old one out. Nobody can quietly stay signed in to your account on a device you forgot about.
What happens if my STR domain changes hands?
The account follows the domain. If your STR domain moves to another wallet, the previous holder loses access within minutes and a fresh account begins for the new holder. Nothing carries over — no messages, no contacts, no profile.
How do I delete my account?
Settings -> Account -> Delete your account, in the app. It is permanent.
Already uninstalled? Delete it from the web — you prove the account is yours by signing with the same wallet, no password and no identity documents. What deletion covers is on the account deletion page.
Messages and privacy
Can StrTalk read my messages?
No. Messages, photos, videos, voice notes and files are end-to-end encrypted: our server holds them only as scrambled data it cannot unlock. The readable content exists on your devices and the devices you write to, nowhere else. What the server does have to read: your profile name and photo — the Privacy Policy draws that line precisely.
Can you see who I talk to?
We can see which accounts share a conversation and when messages move between them — the server needs that to deliver them, and encryption does not hide it. We cannot see what is said. We do not use this to build a profile of who you know, and there is no advertising or analytics code anywhere in the app.
What happens when I delete a message?
Delete for me removes it from your own devices only. Delete for everyone removes it from the conversation for all of you, and its content leaves our server within minutes — only a marker that a message existed remains. Media it carried is removed by the 30-day cycle below.
How long do photos and videos stay available?
Photos, videos, voice notes and files are deleted from our server 30 days after they are sent — opened or not. That is deliberate: our server is a courier, not an archive. A device that downloaded a file keeps its copy, so use "Save to device" for anything you want to keep. Text messages are not part of this cycle — they stay until you delete them.
What do you keep about me, and for how long?
The short table. The complete one, with everything we hold, is in the Privacy Policy.
| What | For how long |
|---|---|
| Photos, videos, voice notes, files | 30 days from when they were sent |
| A message you deleted for everyone | Gone within minutes |
| A conversation everyone has left | Wiped after about a day |
| Records of the addresses you connect from | 28 days |
| Reports you send us | 12 months |
| Your messages otherwise | Until you delete them — and only as data we cannot read |
Why does my new phone say the encrypted history is unavailable?
Because we genuinely cannot hand your messages to a new phone — that is the point of end-to-end encryption. The new phone needs your recovery key: open the "Encrypted history unavailable" banner and enter the key you saved when you set up Secure Backup. Keep it somewhere that survives losing your phone.
I lost my recovery key. Can you recover my messages?
No — not because we will not, but because we cannot. Nobody can; that is what end-to-end encrypted means. The app offers a reset, but read its warning: it issues a fresh key, and the messages encrypted under the old one are gone for good, for everyone on this account.
Groups
Are groups as private as one-to-one conversations?
Yes. The same end-to-end encryption covers them, and there are no public groups: every group is invite-only, and only its members know it exists. We cannot read what a group says any more than we can read anything else.
Who can add me to a group?
Only someone already in it. If you are added to a group you do not want, leave it — and if the invite itself is the problem, report the person who sent it.
Notifications
I'm not getting notifications
- Check notifications are allowed for StrTalk in your phone's system settings.
- Check Settings -> Notifications in the app; message notifications and previews are separate switches.
- Battery savers and "restricted background" modes on some Android phones will hold notifications back until you open the app. If yours has an app-battery setting, set StrTalk to unrestricted.
Safety
Can strangers find me?
Only if they know your exact handle — a lookup returns a result on an exact match and nothing else, so there is no way to browse or enumerate users. StrTalk also never touches your phone's address book, so nobody learns you are here from a contact upload.
Someone is bothering me
Block them: tap the chat header to open their profile and use Block. It is immediate, reversible, silent — they are not told — and their messages and calls stop reaching you at once.
How do I report a message or a person?
A message: press and hold it and choose Report message. A person: open their profile from the chat header and use Report — for an abusive name or photo, an unwanted invite, or someone in a group you never messaged.
We cannot read what was sent — see above — so the reason you pick and the words you add are all we will see. A report with no explanation tells us only that somebody was unhappy, not what happened.
Your STR domain
What is a STR domain?
Your identity in StrTalk and the wider SourceLess universe: an NFT your wallet holds, which other people use to find you. It works like a phone number — someone who knows your exact handle can reach you, and nobody can look you up any other way.