Questions
The awkward ones too.
Including the parts that are inconvenient, because those are the ones you will actually run into.
- Do I need a Surf account?
- Yes. Surf Messenger is a second door into the same account, not a separate product. If you already use Surf, your conversations are already here.
- Are these the same messages as in the Surf app?
- The same messages, the same threads, one system. A change to chat reaches both places at once, because it is one codebase rather than two products kept in step.
- Do I have to sign in twice?
- No. If you are signed in on Surf, opening the messenger signs you in here too. Your chats are a separate matter: they unlock on devices you have approved, so a browser you have never used starts empty until you link it.
- Why is my history empty on a new device?
- Because only your devices can unlock your chats, a new one cannot read what it was not there for. Link it from a phone you already use, or restore a backup, and your history comes with you.
- Can you read my messages?
- No. Messages are locked on your phone before they are sent, and the locked version is the only one we ever have.
- What happens if someone demands my messages?
- We can hand over what we hold, which is the locked version and what was needed to deliver it. We cannot unlock it.
- Does search upload my chats?
- No. Searching happens on your device, so your chats never leave it. Anything this device has not opened is left out, and the app tells you how much rather than quietly skipping it.
- Is there anything that is not encrypted?
- Two things, and we would rather say them here. A group larger than 256 people is not end to end encrypted, because the group scheme stops there. And a small number of messages sent before we shipped encryption were stored readable; everything since is not.
- How is this paid for?
- Donations. There is no advertising, no tracking to sell and no profile of you worth assembling. That is the whole model, which is why we ask.
- Is there an app to install?
- It runs in the browser and installs to your home screen if you want it there. No store, no update to wait for.