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Wave – A private and unique messenger for iOS
- chupa-chups 8y agoIs this end-to-end encrypted? The store page says > Messages encrypted using a combination of 256-bit symmetric AES encryption.
- m1cky 8y agoThe app utilises AES encryption method using this library: https://github.com/RNCryptor/RNCryptor https://github.com/RNCryptor/RNCryptor.
- chupa-chups 8y agoThanks for the answer! The app looks really nice. Will try it :)
- m1cky 8y agoThanks! Let me know if you have any questions. P.S. Get a friend to download it as well as it requires both parties to have each other contacts saved and the app installed in order to send / receive messages.
- a-priori 8y agoIn other words you have to harvest the parties' contact lists in order to do this matching?
- m1cky 8y agoWe require access to your contacts. We do not harvest.
- a-priori 8y agoCould you explain the difference, in your own words? The most obvious way I see to support this feature is to build up a big table of contact connections, so that when I join and put in my phone number it can send up my list of contacts and find all the bidirectional connections to what's already in the database. This means you're building up a big graph of how all your users are connected to each other, and to people who don't use Wave (yet). Is that not 'harvesting' the contacts? Do you do it a different way?
- m1cky 8y agoThe app requires an active number in order to use the service. This number is submitted to the database during the verification process. To my knowledge, mthere is no way around this. To send and receive messages, the app needs access to your contacts. When you tap 'send' for the first time, the app will ask you for permission to access your address book.
- indutny 8y agoAny additional details on how encryption and key generation scheme looks like?
- kelnage 8y agoOr, more importantly, how does key exchange work? You can’t really claim to be totally anonymous without explaining these details.
- i_am_proteus 8y agoHow does key exchange work, and does the server have copies of the keys?
- m1cky 8y agoYou can find more info on key exchange here - https://github.com/RNCryptor/RNCryptor https://github.com/RNCryptor/RNCryptor. The server does not have copies.
- kelnage 8y agoNo, you really can’t. That’s a library for symmetric cryptography. The key distribution/exchange problem cannot be solved with symmetric cryptography alone - unless you are acting as a trusted party and conveying the symmetric key - in which case you are not implementing end-to-end cryptography.
- danpalmer 8y agoIs the encryption end to end, or is the key known to the server?
- aboutruby 8y agoSeems like there is a "password" required to encrypt/decrypt but the app's descriptions says: > - No Sign Up / Log In / Usernames / Passwords. So I'm guessing this password is stored server-side and the passwords are associated to device ids. Seems like it would read your contacts and then send them to their servers too, not a fan of doing that personally. I'm not sure why the app mentions encryption/security as it seems far from being the main point of the app.
- m1cky 8y agoMessages sent on the app are end-to-end encrypted and the key is not known to the server. The only way anybody can read your messages is if you allow them physical access to your phone.
- m1cky 8y agoWow Marc, thanks! Hey HN, Wave (^‿^)ﾉ is privacy-focused instant messenger designed to keep the nature of conversation fun and fleeting. No other messaging platform offers complete messaging peace of mind by being totally anonymous. The app offers two message types: WaveFlash: 10 words or less - message displayed word-by-word rapidly. WaveLength: 1000 characters or less - tap anywhere to close the message when read. Ask me anything here! Features: ↩ Send and receive messages in one place. No chat lists. Messages are secured in capsules that have to be manually opened to be read. Any unread message can be unsent without notifying the receiver. Messages are displayed without showing the sender’s name. All messages can be viewed once only. Messages are end-to-end encrypted. Quick reply by swiping sent/received message capsules inwards. Custom contact names for any chat
- amelius 8y ago> Any unread message can be unsent without notifying the receiver. So you can test whether the recipient read your message by simply sending+unsending the message until you can't unsend anymore? :)
- m1cky 8y agoI'm not sure I fully understand the question but you the only limitation to the unsend feature is the message being 'read'. You can send and unsend as many times as you like.
- chrisseaton 8y agoThey're asking if the unsend feature exposes whether the message has been read..... but I can see in the screenshots that there's a 'read' indicator anyway, isn't there? So it was a ignorant question and I wouldn't worry about it.
- m1cky 8y agoYes! This is correct. Thank you.
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- ukyrgf 8y ago&ref=producthunt ?
- penagwin 8y agoThey got the link from product hunt who adds that, the mods should likely remove that part of the link.
- aleken 8y agoNorwegian eight digit numbers are not possible to submit in the signup form. Strange that they need the phone number for an “anonymous “ messaging device.
- MentallyRetired 8y agoRIP Google Wave -- you were ahead of your time. Unfortunately no iOS in this household to try it out so best of luck to the new Wave. :)
- Angostura 8y agoGoogle's not defending the Wave trademark?
- onemoresoop 8y agoThe alive and kicking "Google" Wave?
- hmhrex 8y agoThey don't own Wave anymore.[0] [0] https://incubator.apache.org/projects/wave.html https://incubator.apache.org/projects/wave.html
- m1cky 8y ago*Wave (^‿^)ﾉ
- hi5eyes 8y agohow does this compare to signal/imessage?
- m1cky 8y agoIt doesn't. Sending and receiving a message on Wave (^‿^)ﾉ is different from any other messaging platform.
- hmhrex 8y agoIt would be great if you expanded on _why_ it's different.
- m1cky 8y agoThe most notable difference is messages being stored inside capsules. This means that you have to open a message to read it. You can only view it once. When displayed, messages do not include the senders name.
- hi5eyes 8y agomb
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- hmhrex 8y agoReading through the Privacy Policy, I have some concerns. Under "Usage Information": > We may collect information about: how you communicate with those Wavers, such as their names, the time and date of your communications... I know you're not storing the actual messages (in plain text at least), but I don't like the idea that you're storing who I'm talking to. Under "Information Provided By Third Parties": > - Advertisers may let us know you installed a new app or games so we can determine whether we showed you an ad for it. > - If you interact with one of our advertisers, they may share information with us to help target or measure the performance of ads. > - If another user uploads their contact list, we may combine information from the user's contact list with other information we have collected about you. That's too much profiling for my liking. In the end, even though the messages are "private", I don't feel that this app is taking my _privacy_ seriously. Otherwise, I like the design, the UI and the idea. We need more competitors in this space. I do desire a web version of any message platform I use. It makes it easier for me to communicate throughout the day.
- m1cky 8y agoHi! Thank you for your feedback. Presently, Wave (^‿^)ﾉ is privately funded and in no way supported by any advertising revenue. The information that you made reference to was included as a precaution should some future involvement come to fruition. Please bear in mind that this project was made by an individual. Your feedback regarding encryption / clauses in the terms of service / privacy policy are greatly appreciated as they serve as guidance on which areas can be changed or improved upon. Thank you.
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- vxNsr 8y agoUgh, I hate everything about this. They claim to be privacy focused but collect metadata for ads. The app appears to have 15 fake 5 star reviews that don't at all accurately review the app as an ephemeral messaging platform. One compares it to Whatsapp. there is no website explaining how this app works. they're forcing users to provide a phone number for no discernable reason.
- m1cky 8y agoHey buddy! Regarding your privacy concerns, the way in which it is designed makes messaging private. All communication is also end-to-end encrypted. No metadata collected other than what development platform requires for basic analytics. There is absolutely advertising. The reviews are fake...? Most messaging apps require a phone number. The app works the same way as Whatsapp does. Both users needs each other saved in their address book and both users need the app installed. It was designed to be very user-friendly and simple. Hope this in someway alleviates your frustrations. (^‿^)ﾉ
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