Frequently Asked Questions
Murmur is a delay-tolerant mesh messaging app. It lets people share short messages without internet access.
Messages spread person-to-person via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when devices come near each other.
YES
You can use any name (pseudonym) or none at all. The app does not link messages to your phone number, email, or device hardware ID.
Your "identity" is a cryptographic key generated on your phone.
NO Messaging works entirely offline.
Note: If you enable "QA Mode" (for developers), it will use internet for telemetry. Do NOT enable in restricted environments.
When two Murmur users come near each other, their phones automatically exchange messages using:
No internet needed. Messages hop from phone to phone.
Android requires Location Permission to scan for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices. This is an Android rule, not ours.
Murmur does NOT track your GPS location or store it anywhere. We only use this permission to find nearby peers.
Murmur uses multiple wireless technologies to maximize message delivery:
The app automatically uses whichever methods are available on your device. You don't need to configure anything.
NOT FROM A DISTANCE
There is no central server to hack or subpoena. Messages move directly from phone to phone — no company in the middle.
However: If someone (including a government agent) installs Murmur and physically comes near other users, their phone will receive messages like any other peer. This is unavoidable in any open mesh network.
Warning: If someone takes your unlocked phone, they can read your messages. Use a strong screen lock.
NO You cannot recall messages from the network.
You can hide messages by swiping them away. This clears your feed but doesn't erase anything. Use "Restore swiped" to bring them back.
Some messages may expire automatically. Once a message spreads to others, it's out of your control. This prevents censorship.
Messages are not encrypted and not signed — anyone on the mesh can read them, and there's no way to know who wrote them.
This is intentional: full anonymity means messages cannot be traced back to their author. Think of it like an anonymous public bulletin board. Do not share secrets.
Use BLE pairing — both people must be physically nearby (within Bluetooth range, ~10 meters).
Go to the Friends tab, tap "Add Friend Nearby." Both of you will see a 6-digit code on your screens. Enter each other's codes and verify visually that they match. This creates a direct trust link.
Why this is secure: An adversary cannot add you remotely. They would need to be physically present and pass the visual code verification. This combines Bluetooth locality (proves proximity) with keyboard entry (proves human involvement) to establish genuine person-to-person trust.
Once connected, messages from that person — and people they trust — will be prioritized in your feed.
When two phones meet, they only have a brief window to exchange messages — maybe seconds or minutes. Not everything can be shared in time.
Murmur must decide what to send first. It prioritizes messages from people in your trust network, so important content reaches you faster.
This means your feed naturally reflects your community. A government employee whose contacts are mostly other officials will see more official messages. A dissident whose trust circle includes activists will see more from that community — and less from outside it.
Trust shapes what spreads. Build your network intentionally.
Hearts are a simple, anonymous “like.” Tapping the heart toggles your like on/off and changes the count by +1/-1 on your phone.
The colored bar on the left of each message shows how close the author is to your social circle:
Open Share Murmur from Settings. You have two options:
The receiver doesn't need Murmur installed — they accept the file and install it.