Cipher Chat

Private messaging. Messages are scrambled on your phone and only the person you send them to can read them.

Open Cipher Chat
Invite only. You need two files from the person who runs your Cipher Chat server: a CA certificate (cipher-chat-ca.crt) and your own device certificate (…​.p12) with its password. Without them the app can't connect.

Set up on Samsung Galaxy

Other Android phones are similar; search Settings for “certificate” if a menu is named differently.

  1. Save both files to Downloads

    Get them from the server owner in person or over a USB cable or a trusted app. Don't use email.

  2. Install the CA certificate

    Settings → Security and privacy → More security settings → Install from device storage → CA certificate. Tap Install anyway, confirm with your PIN, and pick cipher-chat-ca.crt.

    This lets your phone recognise the server, so there's no security warning.

  3. Install your device certificate

    Same menu → VPN and app user certificate → pick your .p12 file → enter its password → name it Cipher Chat.

    This is your key to get in. The server refuses every phone that doesn't have one.

  4. Enter the server address

    When Chrome asks which certificate to use, pick Cipher Chat. If it asks to access devices on your network, tap Allow.

  5. Install the app

    Use the Install app button at the top, or in Chrome tap ⋮ → Add to home screen → Install. It then lives in your app drawer like any other app.

  6. Create your username and check safety numbers

    Pick a username. When you open a chat, tap Verify safety number and compare the number with your contact in person or on a call. If it matches, nobody can be listening in.

Something not working?

“Can't reach the server”
Check the address (it can change; ask the owner for the latest), that the server phone is on, and that both certificates are installed.
Chrome never asked for a certificate
Close Chrome completely (swipe it away in Recents) and open the link again.
Picked the wrong certificate
Chrome → ⋮ → Settings → Site settings → All sites → find the server → Clear & reset, then reload.
Lost or replaced your phone
Tell the server owner so they can block the old device and give you a new certificate.

How your messages stay private