Privacy
MeshFest sends messages between nearby iPhones without the internet. This page covers the app, which collects nothing, and this website, which collects only what you send it.
The MeshFest app collects no data.
- No accounts: no sign-in, no phone number, no contacts.
- No analytics, no advertising, no tracking.
- No crash-reporting SDK.
- No servers: the app makes no internet connections. Messages travel only between nearby devices, and there is no MeshFest server that stores or can read them.
There's no sign-up and no sign-in. MeshFest never asks for your phone number, email address, or contacts. You pick a display name. It's stored on your phone and sent, encrypted, to the people in your groups.
On first launch the app creates a random device ID. Nearby devices running MeshFest can see it: it's part of how phones find each other over Bluetooth and the local network, and it's attached, unencrypted, to every message your phone sends. MeshFest doesn't link it to your Apple ID or phone number, but people in your groups can match it to your display name.
Messages travel directly between phones over Bluetooth and the local network. There is no MeshFest server that stores them or can read them.
Each group has one key, shared by everyone in the group. Anyone with the group's QR code has that key and can read the group's messages. The message text and the sender's display name are encrypted with it. Some information travels unencrypted so phones can route messages: the sender's device ID, a group identifier, the type of message, when it was sent, how many times it has been relayed, and when it expires.
The same key protects all of a group's messages, past and future. Someone who gets the key can read any of the group's messages they have captured.
To reach people farther away, nearby phones running MeshFest — including people who aren't in your group — may receive your encrypted messages and pass them on. They can't read the encrypted content, but they can see the unencrypted information listed above. Your phone does the same for others.
The app contains no analytics or crash-reporting SDK, no ads, and doesn't track you across apps or websites. It doesn't use Apple's advertising identifier, and it makes no internet connections — only Bluetooth and local-network connections to nearby phones.
If you choose to share diagnostics with Apple — in iOS Settings, or when TestFlight asks — Apple may share crash reports from MeshFest with us, under Apple's own privacy policy. That is between you and Apple; MeshFest itself sends nothing.
- Bluetooth — to send your messages and relay encrypted messages for other MeshFest users nearby. It keeps working in the background, so messages can arrive while your phone is in your pocket.
- Local Network — for faster connections to nearby phones while the app is open.
- Notifications — to alert you to new messages while the app is in the background. Alerts are created on your phone; no notification server is involved.
- Camera — only to scan group QR codes. Images aren't stored or sent.
This version doesn't ask for Ultra Wideband (Nearby Interaction) access.
Message previews are hidden by default. The lock-screen Live Activity and notifications say only that there's a new message (notifications also name the group), without the sender or the text. You can turn on "Show message previews" in the app's Profile; iOS's own Show Previews setting still applies. You can also turn Live Activities off in Settings.
- Group keys and your device ID — in the iOS Keychain, limited to this device. They aren't synced and can't be restored to another phone.
- Message history (the latest 100 messages per group) and messages waiting to be sent — in the app's storage, excluded from iCloud and computer backups.
- Your group list and display name — in the app's settings, which are included in your device backups.
Deleting the app removes its messages, waiting messages, group list and settings. iOS may keep Keychain items — your group keys and device ID — after an app is deleted. Only MeshFest on this phone can read them.
The beta is distributed through Apple's TestFlight. Under Apple's TestFlight terms, Apple shares some information with us, such as the name and email address you were invited with, and any feedback you send.
Pages on meshfest.app make no third-party requests. The fonts and everything else load from meshfest.app itself, and there are no analytics, ads or tracking scripts.
The website collects two things, only when you choose to send them:
- Early-access sign-ups. The email address you enter on meshfest.app is stored by our web host, Netlify.
- Beta sign-ups. These are made through a Google Forms page, so what you enter there is stored by Google.
We use these only to contact you about MeshFest. We never sell or share them. To have yours removed, email support@meshfest.app.
If this changes, we'll update this page and the date at the top. Questions: support@meshfest.app.