Create an account

Fariin never asks for your phone number and never uploads your contacts.

When you open the app for the first time you choose how to sign in. There are three ways, and all three are yours to pick from:

• Sign in with Apple. If you use Hide My Email, Fariin never sees your real address.
• Google.
• An email address and a password.

After that you choose a display name, which is what people see, and a username, which is how people find you. You agree to the Terms before you can continue.

Find someone and start a chat

Tap the compose button on the Chats tab and type the person's full username.

You have to type the whole username, not the first few letters. That is on purpose. If two letters were enough to find people, anyone could walk through the alphabet and collect every account on Fariin, and you would have no say in it. Typing the full name means somebody has to have given it to you.

The other way is in person: each account has a QR code you can show, and the other phone scans it.

Your username

Your username is how people find you. It is unique, so no two accounts share one.

You can change it in Settings. When you do, the old one is held for a while rather than released straight away, so nobody can take a name you have just given up and start receiving messages meant for you.

Getting the app

Fariin is on iPhone and is currently in TestFlight, which is Apple's system for trying apps before they reach the App Store.

Write to support@fariin.com and you will be sent an invite. You need an iPhone and a free Apple account.

Share your QR code

In Settings, tap the QR button at the top left. Anyone can scan it with the Fariin camera to open a chat with you, without typing your username.

Tap Scan a code to scan somebody else's. Tap Download to save your code as a picture you can post or print. Somebody can also upload that picture from their photos to scan it.

Send photos, videos, voice notes and files

Tap + beside the message box to attach a photo or video from your library, take one with the camera, or send a file.

For a voice note, hold the microphone button and speak, then let go to send. Slide away while holding to cancel without sending.

Everything you send is encrypted on your phone before it leaves it, the same as your text.

React, reply and forward

Press and hold any message. The menu that appears lets you:

• React with an emoji. The reaction appears on the message and shows who left it.
• Reply, which quotes the message above yours so it is clear what you are answering.
• Forward it to another chat.
• Copy the text, or delete the message.

Disappearing messages

You can set a chat so new messages remove themselves after a set time. Open the chat, tap the name at the top, and choose the timer.

It applies to messages sent after you turn it on, not to what is already there. Both people see the same timer.

Wallpapers and chat colours

In Settings, under Appearance, you can set a wallpaper behind your chats and choose the colour your own messages are drawn in.

You can apply a wallpaper to every chat at once, or set a different one for a single chat from inside that chat.

Pin, mute and archive a chat

Swipe a chat in the list, or press and hold it, to reach these:

• Pin keeps it at the top of the list.
• Mute stops it notifying you, without leaving the chat.
• Archive moves it out of the main list into Archived, at the bottom.

What the ticks mean

Your own messages show a small mark next to the time.

• A clock: it is still sending.
• One tick: it reached Fariin, but not their phone yet. Their phone may be off or without signal.
• Two faded ticks: it is on their phone. They have not opened it yet.
• Two solid ticks: they have read it. In your chat list, these two ticks are blue.

If somebody turns off read receipts, their read ticks do not appear. Groups show one tick until everyone has read it, then two.

Messages from people you do not know

When somebody you have never chatted with writes to you, it arrives as a message request. They can send one message until you answer.

Open it to read it, then choose to accept, delete it, or block them. Nothing you do tells them you have read it until you reply or accept. You can find all requests in the Chats menu under Message Requests.

Edit a message

Press and hold a message you sent and choose Edit. The message shows "edited" afterwards.

Earlier versions are kept: press and hold an edited message and choose Edit History to see them.

Save a copy of a chat

Open the chat, tap the name at the top, tap More and choose Export Chat. You get a text file of that conversation to save or send.

Photos, videos, voice notes and calls are listed by name rather than included. Anything you cleared or deleted for yourself is left out.

The file is made on your phone and deleted from it as soon as you close the share sheet. Because messages are end-to-end encrypted, only your phone can make it. We cannot send you a copy.

Make a voice or video call

Open a chat and tap the phone or the video camera at the top. Calls go over the internet, so they use data rather than call minutes.

Calls are between two people and are encrypted end to end, the same as messages.

The first time you call, your iPhone asks for permission to use the microphone, and the camera as well for a video call. If you say no, the call cannot connect until you allow it in the iPhone's own Settings under Fariin.

A call will not connect

Things worth checking, in order:

• The other person must have opened the app at least once on their phone.
• Microphone permission must be granted, in the iPhone's Settings under Fariin.
• Notifications must be allowed on their phone, or their phone cannot be woken to ring.
• A very restricted network, such as some office or school wifi, can block the connection a call needs. Trying on mobile data tells you quickly whether that is it.

If it still fails, write to support@fariin.com and say roughly when you tried and where both of you were.

Choose who can call you

In Settings, go to Privacy & Security, then Calls.

• Everyone: anyone you have not blocked, including people who sent you a message request.
• Only My Chats: only people you already have a chat with. Anybody who used your Chat Key counts as one of your chats.

People you have blocked can never call you, whatever you choose here.

Post a story

On the Stories tab, tap the card marked Add Story, then pick a photo or video or take one.

A story stays up for 24 hours and then removes itself. You can delete it sooner from your own story.

Choose who can see your story

Before you post you choose the audience, and you can change the default in Settings under Privacy.

You can also hide your story from named people. They are not told, and they simply do not see it.

See who viewed your story

Open your own story and swipe up, or tap the viewers count. You will see who has watched it.

The same is true in reverse: when you watch someone's story, they can see that you did.

What end-to-end encrypted means here

Every message, photo, video, voice note and file is locked on your phone before it is sent, and can only be unlocked on the phone of the person you sent it to.

Fariin cannot read any of it. This is not a promise about what we choose to look at; it is that the thing sitting on our server is a piece of scrambled data that we hold no key for.

The practical consequence, which is worth knowing before you need it: we cannot recover your messages. If you lose access to your account, the conversations go with it. Nobody can bring them back.

Block someone

Open the chat, tap their name at the top, then choose Block. There is also a block option on the bar inside a chat with somebody you do not know.

A blocked person cannot message you or call you. They are not told that you blocked them.

Report someone

Press and hold the message and choose Report, or Report and Block to do both at once. You can also report from a person's profile.

Reports are read by a person, usually within 24 hours. Accounts that break the Terms are banned.

Because chats are encrypted, we cannot see what was sent to you. Include anything that helps: the username, roughly when it happened, and a screenshot if you have one. You can also write to abuse@fariin.com.

Read receipts, typing and last seen

In Settings, under Privacy, you control whether people can see:

• Read receipts, the second tick that says you have read a message.
• Typing, the sign that you are writing.
• Last seen and online.

These work both ways. If you turn off read receipts, you stop seeing other people's as well. That is deliberate, so the setting cannot be used to watch people one-sidedly.

You can also choose who sees your profile photo and your about text: everyone, only people you have a chat with, or nobody.

Lock the app with Face ID

In Settings, under Privacy, turn on App Lock. Fariin then asks for Face ID before it will open.

Beside it is Screen security, which hides what is on screen when you switch apps, so your chats are not sitting in the iPhone's app switcher.

Who can see your profile photo

In Settings, go to Privacy & Security, then Profile Photo.

• Everyone: anybody on Fariin.
• My Chats: people you have a chat with. Someone whose message request you have not answered does not count.
• No One: nobody but you.

Under Hide From, you can also pick people who never see your photo, whatever you chose above.

This is enforced by our servers, not just hidden on the screen. Someone who is not allowed sees your initial instead. A photo somebody already saved or screenshotted cannot be taken back.

Your Chat Key

A Chat Key is a short code you can give to people you want to hear from. If your messages are set so that only people who know your key can write to you, a stranger has to enter it before their first message goes through.

Set or change it from the Chats menu under Chat Key. Change it any time; the old one stops working.

Your profile photo and name

Open Settings and tap your own name at the top to edit your display name, your about text, and your photo.

Who can see your photo is up to you, under Privacy. See Read receipts, typing and last seen.

Delete your account

Open Settings, go to Account, and choose Delete Account. To make sure it is really you, you confirm with the same sign-in you use for Fariin: your password, Apple or Google.

Your account is hidden straight away and removed for good after 30 days. Sign in again before then to restore it (see Changed your mind after deleting). There is no charge and you do not have to give a reason.

Sign in with a passkey

A passkey lets you sign in with Face ID, Touch ID or your phone's passcode instead of a password. It is kept in your password manager, such as iCloud Keychain, and it cannot be guessed, leaked or phished.

In Settings, go to Account, then Passkeys, and tap Create Passkey. To remove one, tap the ... next to it and choose Delete. Deleting it stops it working for Fariin; you can also remove it from your password manager.

Change or reset your password

In Settings, go to Account, then Password. A new password needs at least 8 characters, a letter and a number. The page ticks each one off as you type.

Forgot it? Tap Forgot password? on that page, or on the sign-in screen, and we email a 6-digit code to the address on your account. After a change, your other devices have to sign in again.

Change your email address

In Settings, go to Account, then Email address. Enter the new address and we send a code to it. The change happens once you enter that code, so a typo cannot lock you out.

See and sign out your devices

In Settings, open Devices. You see every phone signed in to your account, with its model, when it signed in and when it was last used. The phone you are holding is marked in green.

Tap a device and choose Sign Out This Device, or use Sign out all other devices. A signed-out phone stops getting messages and calls straight away.

Under Automatic sign-out you can have a device that has not been opened for a while sign itself out.

Get a copy of your account information

In Settings, go to Account, then Your Account Data. You get a file with your profile, email, sign-in methods, privacy settings, devices, blocked accounts and a few counts.

It does not include your messages, because they are end-to-end encrypted and only your phones can read them. To keep a conversation, see Save a copy of a chat.

Changed your mind after deleting

A deleted account is kept hidden for 30 days before it is removed for good. Sign in again within those 30 days and you can restore it, with your username and your chats.

After 30 days it is gone and cannot be recovered.

Notifications are not arriving

Check these in order:

• In the iPhone's own Settings, under Notifications, find Fariin and make sure they are allowed.
• Check that Focus or Do Not Disturb is not on.
• Check the chat is not muted. A muted chat is silent on purpose.
• Low Power Mode can delay notifications.

The title says "Connecting"

That word appears when the app cannot reach the server. Messages you send are held and go out when it comes back, so nothing is lost.

If it stays there while the rest of your internet is plainly working, close Fariin completely and open it again. If it still sits there, tell us, because that is a bug rather than your connection.

Reporting a problem to us

Write to support@fariin.com. What helps most:

• A screenshot, or a short screen recording.
• What you did just before it went wrong.
• Your username, and roughly when it happened.

Remember that we cannot read your messages, so we cannot look at the conversation ourselves.

A photo or video will not send

A message that failed shows a warning mark instead of the picture. Tap it to try again.

Worth checking:

• Whether the title of the chat list says Connecting. If it does, the app cannot reach the server and everything waits.
• Very large videos take a while. The app compresses them before sending, and on a long clip that is not instant.
• Photo permission, in the iPhone's Settings under Fariin.

If one particular photo fails every time while others go through, tell us, because that is a bug rather than your connection.

Change the notification sound

In Settings, go to Notifications, then Sound, and pick one. It plays for new messages both inside the app and on the lock screen.

You can give one chat its own sound too: open the chat, tap the name at the top, then Sounds & Notifications.

What Glow is

A glow is a mark of closeness you give to someone. Your profile shows two numbers:

• Glowers — people who have glowed you.
• Glowing — people you are glowing.

A glow is not a follow and it is not public in the way a follower list is. See the next article for exactly what other people can and cannot see.

Who can see your glows

The counts are visible. The names are not. Anyone looking at your profile can see how many people glow you and how many you glow. Nobody can open those numbers and read the list.

You can see your own lists, on your own profile.

Remove a glow

A glow can always be taken back. Open the person's profile and turn it off again.

You can also use Glow as a story audience, so a story goes only to the people in that circle. That is set when you post.

Night mode and how the app looks

Settings, then Appearance. You can set light or dark, or let it follow your iPhone.

The same page holds your chat wallpaper, the colour of your own messages, and the app icon on your home screen.

Storage and data

Settings, then Storage and Data. Photos and videos you have opened are kept on your phone so they open instantly the next time, and this is where you clear them.

Clearing them removes the copy on your phone, not the message.

Change your quick reaction

Settings, then Chats, then the quick reaction. It is the emoji you get by double-tapping a message, so you can set it to whichever one you actually use.