After nearly three years of running a Rocket.Chat server, we're retiring it and switching to SimpleX Chat, a secure messaging service that offers some privacy advantages.

SimpleX has no user IDs and requires no phone number or email address. All messages sent are end-to-end encrypted by default, and multiple relays are employed to make tracking of users much more difficult.

SimpleX retains features that were previously available under Rocket.Chat:

• ability to register a persistent profile (you can still participate as an anonymous guest);
• ability to delete your own posts;
• end-to-end encrypted direct messaging;
• audio posting;
• video posting;
• secure audio/video calling
• file sharing.

There is no centralized server. Instead, encrypted messages are sent via a decentralized globe-spanning network of relays.

The easiest way to join the AntiPolygraph.org Chatroom is on a mobile device. To install SimpleX Chat and join our chatroom on iOS or Android, follow this link:

https://antipolygraph.org/s/simplex-group

If you have already installed SimpleX Chat, you can join the AntiPolygraph.org Chat Room group by scanning the following QR code:








If you would prefer to set up a profile and participate on a desktop computer, start by downloading the desktop app:

https://simplex.chat/downloads/#desktop-app

Install and run the app, and you will be greeted with the following welcome screen:




If you already have SimpleX running on a mobile device and would like to use the same profile on a computer, you can do so by choosing "Link a mobile." Note that you will have to have both devices on the same local network.

But let's suppose instead you want to create a new profile that you'll use only on the desktop computer. Click on "Create your profile."

You'll be presented with the opportunity to create a profile name:




For demonstration purposes, we've chosen the name "Anonymous Polygraph Critic":




Next, you'll be prompted to choose a passphrase to encrypt your message database. The longer and more unguessable your passphrase, the more secure your saved messages will be:




Next, you will be prompted to select server operators. SimpleX's founder is recommending that users also check "Flux" to improve metadata privacy, so we have done so here.




Next we are presented with the conditions of use. Click the button at the bottom to accept:




After accepting the conditions of use, we are taken into the SimpleX Chat user interface. There is a place where you can keep private notes, but at present, we have no contacts:




Note the field in the lower left corner of the screen that says "Search or paste SimpleX link." Copy and paste the following link (it's long, make sure you've copied it all) and hit enter/return:

https://simplex.chat/contact/#/?v=2-7&smp=smp%3A%2F%2F1OwYGt-yqOfe2IyVHhxz3ohqo3aCCMjtB-8wn4X_aoY%3D%40smp11.simplex.im%2FM6Nqto7SqBrcb7ZjosFpAB5Zp-_NL-3G%23%2F%3Fv%3D1-3%26dh%3DMCowBQYDK2VuAyEAtjJ6kP0mnej7Qq6_xDMXytwFnsM838EdUNlIYQVyAT0%253D%26srv%3D6ioorbm6i3yxmuoezrhjk6f6qgkc4syabh7m3so74xunb5nzr4pwgfqd.onion&data=%7B%22groupLinkId%22%3A%22j25wKqrktXYyZKCKi1Caqg%3D%3D%22%7D

You will be presented with the following screen, offering you the option to join the group using your current profile name (we named ours "Anonymous Polygraph Critic") or to join using a new incognito profile. If you choose an incognito profile, a random user name will be generated for you:




We chose to use our current profile name (Anonymous Polygraph Critic). The following screen appears:




The notification that "You will be connected to group when the group host's device is online, please wait or check later!" is a reference to the device on which AntiPolygraph.org's SimpleX Chat profile is installed. (This device, running GrapheneOS, is almost always connected, so it shouldn't take long for you to be connected!)

Once you have been connected, you will be taken back into the primary SimpleX Chat user interface. The AntiPolygraph.org Chat Room now appears on your contacts list:




Click on the link on the left to display the chat room. You'll see a welcome message as well as up to the last 100 messages posted. Messages are presently set to be autodeleted after one month.

You can now participate in the chat room anonymously and securely!