Guides and answers for Cove, the end-to-end encrypted messenger. For anything not covered here, email [email protected].
Cove uses Sign in with Apple to create your account — no phone number, no email address, and no access to your address book. Signing in gives you a random eight-character Contact ID, and your encryption keys are generated on your iPhone. You can set a nickname that friends will see; changing it does not change your Contact ID.
There is no public user directory: you connect with people you already know. Open Contacts, tap the plus button, then scan the other person's QR code or enter their eight-character Contact ID. To share yours, open My Contact ID, where you can show it as a QR code, copy it, or share it as a link. Entering someone's Contact ID sends them an end-to-end encrypted message request.
Strangers can't barge into your inbox. When someone adds your Contact ID, their first message arrives under Message Requests, and you choose whether to accept, decline, block, or report before the conversation starts. The other person can keep messaging you only after you accept their message request.
Messages, voice messages, and attachments are encrypted on your device before they leave it, using X3DH-style key agreement with a double-ratchet protocol. Private keys are generated and stored only on your devices — the server relays ciphertext it cannot read. Ciphertext of delivered messages is purged from the server within about an hour, and attachment ciphertext after about 30 days.
Every private chat has a Safety Number you can use to verify your contact: open their profile, go to Safety Identity, and choose View Safety Number, then compare it in person or over another trusted channel. If a contact's safety identity changes — for example after they reinstall Cove or switch iPhones — you'll see a security alert asking you to confirm it's still them before continuing. For sensitive conversations, you can turn on Verify Safety Number Before Sending.
Group chats are end-to-end encrypted just like private chats. Groups support text, photos and multi-photo albums, videos, files and PDFs, voice messages, stickers, reply quoting, reactions, and forwarding. You can mute a group like any other chat.
You can make end-to-end encrypted one-to-one voice calls, with video calling where available. Calls use the native iOS call experience, so they ring like regular calls, and in a video call each participant controls their own camera. Calls connect directly between devices when possible; otherwise the encrypted stream is forwarded through a relay server that cannot decrypt it.
Photos and videos travel as encrypted attachments; the server holds only ciphertext and removes it after about 30 days. In private one-to-one chats you can send a photo or video as View Once: the recipient can open it a single time, after which it is no longer available and its local media data is cleared.
You can set a default disappearing-message timer for new messages, and any chat can override it from its profile. Sent messages start counting down after sending succeeds; received messages start after you read them. When participants choose different times, the shorter time is used. Expired messages are removed from local history, search, notifications, and the media cache.
Message keys exist only on your devices, so Cove cannot recover your history for you — back it up yourself. In Chat Backup you can export an encrypted backup file that you store and manage; it is protected by a passphrase (at least 10 characters) and a recovery code that Cove never receives. Moving to a new iPhone: export the backup file on your old iPhone, transfer the file to the new one (AirDrop or the Files app), then import it during setup. Without a backup file you exported yourself, history from a lost device cannot be recovered by anyone.
You can link up to five devices to one account, and each device has its own encryption identity. A new device is linked by showing a QR code that you scan and approve from a device that is already signed in; approval requires your device passcode or biometrics. Chat history does not transfer to a newly linked device — messages are end-to-end encrypted and the server cannot hand them over. A device must be revoked from another signed-in device; once revoked, it can no longer receive new messages. Adding or removing a device may trigger a safety-identity alert for your contacts — that is the verification system working as intended.
You can require an app passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID to open Cove, and Cove masks its content in the iOS app switcher. The app passcode is a local privacy gate on your device; Cove cannot reset it for you.
Push notifications never include message text — they tell you that a message arrived, not what it says. A notification may show the sender's nickname, but the private aliases you set for contacts are never sent to Apple. In the app you can toggle New Message Notifications and Message Request Notifications, and mute individual chats.
Block someone from their contact profile; blocked contacts won't appear in your message list or trigger new message alerts, and you can manage them under Blocked List. To report abuse, long-press a message in the chat, choose Report, pick a reason, and select which messages to include as evidence. Only the messages you select are decrypted on your device and shared with our moderators to review that report; the other person is not notified, and disclosed evidence is kept for at most 90 days.
Open Me → Account → Delete Account, review what will be removed, and complete the second confirmation. Deletion removes your account, linked devices, push tokens, queued ciphertext, and attachments. It cannot be undone, and Cove cannot restore a deleted account or its history.
Messages not sending: Cove keeps unsent messages in a local outbox and sends them automatically once you're back online, so check your connection and give the app a moment in the foreground. Not receiving notifications: turn on notifications for Cove in iOS Settings and check that a Focus mode isn't silencing them; opening the app will also fetch anything you missed. Voice messages need microphone access and video calls need camera access — both can be enabled in iOS Settings. If a problem persists, email us with the details below.
Email [email protected] for help, feature requests, or safety reports. Include your app version, iOS version, the approximate time the problem occurred, and steps to reproduce it. Never send your app passcode, recovery code, backup passphrase, or any private key — we will never ask for them.