LoginSign Up
← Back to all sparks
S

SimpleX Chat

COMMS
Velocity6.3

Private, encrypted messaging platform with no user identifiers

simplex.chat ↗

The no-identifier messenger is building public channels — and has to invent trust from scratch

privacychannelsdecentralizationmessage-signingself-hostingbeta-cycle
◆Current state
SimpleX Chat is deep in a v7.0 beta cycle, six betas in, with the stable armv7a tag now cut. The release is dominated by channels: broadcast surfaces with subscribers, contributor and moderator roles, searchable subscriber lists, and CLI access. Alongside them sits SimpleX names — registerable, resolvable names for channels and businesses — and per-server role controls that let self-hosters run a relay that handles only message reception, private routing, or name resolution.
◆Where it's heading
This is the hardest problem the project has taken on. SimpleX's premise is that users have no identifiers at all, and public channels need exactly the opposite: a stable name people can find and an author they can verify. The answer taking shape is cryptographic rather than account-based — message signing, member security-code verification, and name resolution run as an opt-in server function. The betas since then have shifted from adding channel features to hardening the role model, rejecting forwards from unexpected admins and locking relay-role assignment.
◆Prediction
A 7.0 stable release looks imminent given the non-beta tag, with message signing held back for 7.1 as the notes state. Expect the next cycle to turn signing on and continue tightening who can act as a relay or admin inside a channel.

◆Recent moves

  1. 24d ago

    v7.0.0-beta.6

    beta.6 is consolidation: the preset SimpleX Status contact is removed from new profiles, and the core changes reject group message forwards from unexpected admins and prohibit reassigning the relay role. That is the channel role model being locked down rather than extended, which is what a release does when it is nearly stable.

    View source ↗
  2. 27d ago

    v7.0.0-beta.5

    Self-hosted servers get per-function roles — message reception, private routing, and name resolution can each be enabled or disabled independently. For a network whose privacy properties depend on who runs which relay, splitting the server into separable duties gives operators far more precise control over what their infrastructure is exposed to.

    View source ↗
  3. 29d ago

    v7.0.0-beta.4

    ⚡ SPARK

    beta.4 adds the trust layer channels need: message signing (staged off until 7.1) and per-member security-code verification to confirm a connection has not been intercepted, plus longer profile descriptions and subscriber search. This is the release where the channels bet stops being a features question and becomes an identity question.

    View source ↗
  4. 1mo ago

    v7.0 beta 3: registrable SimpleX names for channels

    Beta 3 introduces registrable SimpleX names for channels and businesses via a testing registry, plus CLI connection to channels. Named addresses tackle the discovery problem an identifier-free network otherwise has.

    View source ↗
  5. 1mo ago

    SimpleX 7.0-beta.2: subscriber roles and CLI channel connect

    beta.2 surfaces subscriber and contributor roles in the channel member list and adds CLI connection to channels, extending the channels feature to power users and clarifying who holds which role.

    View source ↗
  6. 1mo ago

    Promote channel subscribers to contributors (v7.0 beta.1)

    beta.1 lets owners promote subscribers to contributors, widens channel messages, blocks obfuscated links where groups prohibit them, and fixes iOS link handling — building out channel moderation and roles.

    View source ↗