Thanks

DarkWire stands on the shoulders of a lot of people who share their work with the world, most of them for free. Without them, DarkWire would have been a hundred times harder to build, if it could have been built at all. Thank you, all of you.

Here is everything DarkWire uses directly: what it does for DarkWire, who makes it, and its license. Each of these builds on many more projects of its own, and our thanks go to those too.

Encryption and security

• libsignal by Signal

  The Signal protocol: the end-to-end encryption of every message, with post-quantum keys. Used as-is on Android, and compiled to WebAssembly for the desktop and web versions.

  AGPL-3.0 · Android, Desktop, Web

• Tink by Google

  Keeps DarkWire's own keys locked to the phone's security chip, and encrypts the wake-up pushes.

  Apache-2.0 · Android

• Bouncy Castle by Legion of the Bouncy Castle

  Argon2id, which turns a backup's PIN or password into its key on Android.

  MIT (Bouncy Castle Licence) · Android

• RustCrypto argon2 by RustCrypto

  The same Argon2id for backups in the desktop and web versions.

  MIT or Apache-2.0 · Desktop, Web

• noble-ciphers and noble-hashes by Paul Miller

  AES-GCM, scrypt and HKDF: the password lock on a USB drive and the keys of the stored data in the desktop and web versions.

  MIT · Desktop, Web

• rand and getrandom by The Rust Random project

  Good random numbers for the encryption, in the browser too.

  MIT or Apache-2.0 · Desktop, Web

• apksig by The Android Open Source Project

  Checks that an update really comes from DarkWire before the app installs it.

  Apache-2.0 · Android

Storing your data

• SQLCipher by Zetetic

  The encrypted database that holds your messages and contacts on Android.

  BSD-style · Android

• SQLite3 Multiple Ciphers by Ulrich Telle

  The encrypted database of the desktop and web versions, one and the same file format in both.

  MIT · Desktop, Web

• better-sqlite3-multiple-ciphers by Mahesh Bandara Wijerathna

  Connects the desktop app to that encrypted database.

  MIT · Desktop

• SQLite by D. Richard Hipp and the SQLite team

  The database engine underneath all of the above.

  Public domain · Android, Desktop, Web

Calls

• WebRTC by The WebRTC project

  Messages, files and calls straight between two devices, through home routers and mobile networks. Built into the browsers and the desktop app.

  BSD-3-Clause · Android, Desktop, Web

• WebRTC for Android by Stream

  WebRTC, ready to use in an Android app.

  Apache-2.0 · Android

QR codes

• ZXing by The ZXing authors

  Makes and reads the QR codes you pair with.

  Apache-2.0 · Android

• ZXing Android Embedded by JourneyApps

  The camera scanner for QR codes on Android.

  Apache-2.0 · Android

• zxing-wasm by Ze-Zheng Wu

  Reads QR codes from a webcam or a picture in the desktop and web versions.

  MIT · Desktop, Web

Notifications

• UnifiedPush by The UnifiedPush project

  The open standard that wakes DarkWire when something arrives, without Google: the connector in DarkWire, and the distributor libraries in DarkWire Pulse.

  Apache-2.0 · Android, Pulse

• Ktor by JetBrains

  DarkWire Pulse's connection to the push service.

  Apache-2.0 · Pulse

The apps themselves

• Kotlin, kotlinx.coroutines and kotlinx.serialization by JetBrains

  The language the Android apps are written in, and its libraries for background work and data.

  Apache-2.0 · Android, Pulse

• Android Jetpack by Google

  Compose and Material 3 for every screen, plus Room, DataStore, WorkManager, Navigation, Lifecycle, Biometric, and Core-Telecom, which makes DarkWire a real calling app (Bluetooth and car audio, answering from the lock screen).

  Apache-2.0 · Android, Pulse

• Hilt and Dagger by Google

  Wires the Android app's parts together.

  Apache-2.0 · Android

• AboutLibraries by Mike Penz

  Collects every library in the Android apps with its license, and shows them under Open-source licenses.

  Apache-2.0 · Android, Pulse

• Compose Cropper by Smart Tool Factory

  Cropping your profile picture.

  MIT · Android

• Java library desugaring by Google

  Newer Java features on older Android versions, down to Android 9.

  GPL-2.0 with Classpath Exception · Android

• Electron by The Electron project

  Turns DarkWire into a desktop app for Linux and Windows.

  MIT · Desktop

• React by Meta and the React community

  Every screen of the desktop and web versions.

  MIT · Desktop, Web

DarkWire for the web on your own server

• FrankenPHP by Kévin Dunglas and contributors

  The web server in the Docker image: serves the page and runs the push relay.

  MIT · Web

• Caddy by The Caddy project

  Inside FrankenPHP: HTTPS with a certificate that arranges itself.

  Apache-2.0 · Web

• PHP by The PHP Group

  Runs the push relay, in the Docker image or on your own web server.

  PHP License · Web

Tools we build and test with

• Claude and Claude Code by Anthropic

  Built DarkWire together with Tijn: the design discussions, the code of every app, the tests on real phones and computers, and this page.

  Android, Pulse, Desktop, Web

• Gradle, the Android Gradle Plugin and KSP by Gradle, Google

  Build the Android apps.

  Apache-2.0 · Android, Pulse

• Node.js by The OpenJS Foundation

  Runs the desktop app's background and all the build scripts.

  MIT · Desktop, Web

• TypeScript by Microsoft

  The language the desktop and web versions are written in.

  Apache-2.0 · Desktop, Web

• Vite by Evan You and the Vite team

  Builds the desktop and web versions.

  MIT · Desktop, Web

• electron-builder by The electron-builder team

  Packages the desktop app: .deb, AppImage and the Windows setup.

  MIT · Desktop

• Wine by The Wine project

  Lets us build the Windows setup on Linux.

  LGPL-2.1 · Desktop

• Rust and wasm-bindgen by The Rust project

  Compile libsignal to WebAssembly for the desktop and web versions.

  MIT or Apache-2.0 · Desktop, Web

• cargo-about by Embark Studios

  Lists every Rust crate in our WebAssembly with its license, for Open-source licenses in the desktop and web versions.

  MIT or Apache-2.0 · Desktop, Web

• Docker by Docker

  Builds the Docker image of DarkWire for the web.

  Apache-2.0 · Web

• Vitest, Playwright, JUnit and JSON-java by The Vitest team, Microsoft, the JUnit team, Douglas Crockford

  Test that the apps understand each other, and that the desktop and web versions work in a real browser.

  MIT, Apache-2.0, EPL-1.0, Public domain · Android, Desktop, Web

Services DarkWire relies on

• ntfy by Philipp C. Heckel

  A free notification app and service that can wake DarkWire on Android.

  Apache-2.0 and GPL-2.0 · Android

• Sunup by The UnifiedPush project

  Another free notification app for DarkWire on Android, using Mozilla's push service.

  Apache-2.0 · Android

• Mozilla's push service by Mozilla

  Carries the wake-up pushes for DarkWire Pulse, Sunup, the desktop app and Firefox.

  Pulse, Desktop, Web

• The browsers' push services by Google, Apple, Microsoft

  Carry the wake-up pushes for DarkWire in Chrome, Safari and Edge.

  Web

• Google's STUN servers by Google

  Tell a device its own internet address, so two devices can find each other directly.

  Android, Desktop, Web