Privacy-first messaging, explained plainly
PIING is a free messenger for iPhone and iPad, made by Hectic Radio Ltd in the UK. Here is exactly what it protects, how, and where the limits are.
One-to-one text messages are end-to-end encrypted
One-to-one text messages are encrypted on your phone before they are sent, using a post-quantum handshake (ML-KEM-1024 with X25519) and the Double Ratchet, so each message gets a fresh key. Only the other person's phone can open them. Our servers store scrambled text for those messages, and their notifications never contain the message.
You can check that nobody is in the middle: open the chat's Encryption screen and compare the safety code, in person or by scanning a QR code.
Where we use encryption in transit instead
Photos, videos and voice messages, group chats, Stories, web chat, group calls and messages to someone on an older app version are encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS) but are not end-to-end encrypted. The app shows a lock on messages that are end-to-end encrypted, so you can always tell.
PIING's encryption has not yet had an independent third-party audit. We say so here rather than let you assume otherwise.
No ads, no ad trackers, no selling your data
There are no ads and no advertising trackers in PIING, and we never sell or rent your personal data. The service providers we use are listed in the Privacy Policy.
You decide who can find you
Contact discovery is opt-in. When you turn it on, your phone turns each number and email into a scrambled code, and only those codes are compared with people already on PIING. Your address book is not uploaded and the codes are not stored. This stops casual snooping, but it is not unbreakable: phone numbers are a small enough set that a determined attacker could work some of them out, so we are upgrading it to a stronger method.
Location only for the friends you pick
The Friends Map is off by default. When you share, only the friends you choose see you, each update expires after 4 hours, and Ghost Mode hides you instantly.
Keep talking with no signal
Nearby lets PIING phones reach each other over Bluetooth, hopping through up to 5 nearby PIING phones. Messages relayed this way are sealed so the phones passing them on can't read them.
Lock it, leave it
Lock PIING with Face ID. Delete your account in the app at any time: it's removed permanently after 30 days, and signing back in during that time cancels it.
Get PIING free on the App Store