No internet.
No server.
Just your team, connected.

Yes, in two layers. Everything saved to disk — chat history and files alike — is encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM. On top of that, any direct message thread can optionally be turned end-to-end encrypted with one tap: the server and mesh only ever see a 🔒 placeholder, never the real content.

No. Core chat runs entirely over your local WiFi or Ethernet. Internet is only used for optional mobile push notifications when someone's away from the network.

No. When end-to-end encryption is turned on for a conversation, the server only ever receives a placeholder and an encrypted payload it can't make sense of. The message is decrypted only on the recipient's own device, using a private key that never leaves it.

If you saved a personal identity backup beforehand (Account settings — one tap, takes a few seconds), you're recognized as yourself at any other station, with the same name and ongoing history — nothing to redo. Without one, regular messages and group chat still reappear when you rejoin, but conversations you'd turned end-to-end encryption on for are device-bound by design — if that device is reset or replaced with no backup saved, those specific past messages can't be recovered by anyone, including us.

Open the network's join link (the same one phones use) in Safari or Chrome, then add it to the Dock from the browser menu — it opens like a real app from then on, with the full chat experience. One thing worth knowing: a Mac currently joins an existing Station Chat network rather than hosting one — you'll need at least one Windows PC running as the main station for others to connect to. A native Mac installer that can host its own network is on the roadmap.

Windows PCs run the full app and can host a network. iPhone, Android, and Mac all join an existing network from the browser, with the same chat experience. Push notifications on iPhone/Android need one extra step — see the next question.

Scan and install "🔔 Station Chat" first — it's just as quick to set up as the plain version, one tap either way. It just needs a real internet connection to unlock those three features specifically, since browsers only allow them over a properly secured connection, which a plain local address can't provide on its own. The plain "Station Chat" icon is worth keeping too, purely as a backup for a real internet outage — it needs no internet at all, ever. Add it any time, whether right away or only if you're ever actually without internet. Nothing about regular chat, DMs, or files changes either way; this only affects those three specific features.

Everyone gets the same grace period — status shows "Away — still reachable" for a short while rather than instantly dropping off, so a brief network blip or minimized window doesn't make you look gone. Push notifications keep reaching you the whole time either way.

Every other station keeps working — this isn't a single point of failure. If someone's usual station specifically is down and they need to join a different one, a personal identity backup (saved once, in advance) gets them back in as themselves rather than as a new person. Station addresses also stay stable on their own across restarts and network changes, so this situation is rare in the first place.

Yes. Set it once on any station and it automatically syncs to every other device on the network, including everyone's phones.