Install Arveil in ten minutes.

Before you start

Ask for a personal invitation link, or scan its QR in Arveil. It includes the server details and the inviter's contact. With a compatible version, accepting creates your own identity and prepares a conversation with them.

Keep the link private. It can be used once by whoever accepts it first and normally expires after seven days. A name in an invitation is not proof of identity; verify your contact separately.

If the app says the code needs a newer version, update first. Older invitations still work through the separate option for server details and an invitation code; they do not add the inviter as a contact.

Your phone or Mac also has to be able to reach their relay. If it is on a private network, they will tell you what to set up first.

Arveil is experimental and has not been independently audited yet. It is fine for trying out with family and friends; don't rely on it alone for anything sensitive.

On Android

Android 7.0 or later, on a 64-bit ARM phone (nearly every phone from the last several years).

If your Google account has access to the Google Play test, install through its testing link and keep using Play for updates. Accepting an Arveil invitation does not grant access to that test. Otherwise, use the direct APK:

1. On your phone, download the Android file (.apk) from the download section.
2. Open the downloaded file. Android will ask whether your browser or file manager may install unknown apps: allow it for that app. You can switch it off again afterwards.
3. Android may warn you that the app does not come from Google Play. That is expected for the direct APK. Choose Install.
4. Open Arveil and choose Open profile. Return to your original invitation link and choose Open in Arveil. You can also paste the link or scan the QR from the invitation screen.
5. Review who is inviting you and the server, then accept. Opening a link alone does not join the server. Your identity is independent and no previous messages are copied.
6. Save your identity kit when the app offers it (why it matters).

On a Mac

macOS 12 or later, on a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or newer). Intel Macs are not supported.

1. Download the Mac file (.zip) from the download section and open it.
2. Drag Arveil into your Applications folder.
3. Open it. The first time, macOS will warn you and refuse, because the app is not notarised by Apple (that costs a paid developer account). Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down and choose Open Anyway for Arveil. Apple explains it here.
4. Choose Open profile. If macOS asks whether Arveil may use your keychain, allow it: that is where the key to your profile is kept.
5. Return to the invitation link and choose Open in Arveil, or paste the link in the invitation screen. Review it and accept to join the server and prepare your conversation.
6. Save your identity kit when the app offers it.

Already using Arveil on your phone? Choose Link with my other device instead of an invitation, and follow the steps on both screens.

Do you use Homebrew? It installs and updates the same app:

brew tap kaicorplabs/tap
brew trust kaicorplabs/tap
brew install --cask arveil

Keep your identity safe

Your identity lives on your device, not on the server. That is what keeps it private, and it also means that if you lose your only device, the server cannot give it back to you.

So save the identity kit when the app offers it: an encrypted file plus a key. Keep the file somewhere safe and the key somewhere else, such as a password manager or on paper. Linking a second device (a phone and a Mac, for example) protects you too.

Updating

Never uninstall Arveil to update it, and never clear its storage. That deletes your profile and the keys on this device.

Android: from beta 1, Settings → Updates can look for a new version, check that it is genuine and hand it to Android, which asks you to confirm. You can also let it look once a day when you open the app. Or download the new .apk, open it and choose Update. Either way it installs over the old one and keeps everything.

Mac: quit Arveil, replace the app in Applications with the new one and open it again. With Homebrew, run brew upgrade --cask arveil.

Don't go back to an older version once you have opened a newer one.

If something goes wrong

Tell the person who invited you. In the app, Settings → Diagnostics → Save report creates a report without secrets or anything that identifies you, which you can send them.

shasum -a 256 --check SHA256SUMS-clients.txt