Voice and video calls
Call the person you are chatting with, with or without the camera — how to start one, what the call screen shows, and what the conversation records afterwards.
Inside a one-to-one chat you can call the other person, and either of you can turn a camera on during the call. Calls are end-to-end encrypted the same way messages are — see How call encryption works — and they are one-to-one only: there is no call control in a group.
Calls work in the web app and in the Android app. On iPhone the call controls are not shown yet, because that build has no call engine; an iPhone user can still be chatted with, just not called.
Start a call
- Open the chat. In the header, beside the ⋮ menu, are a phone icon and a camera icon. The phone starts a voice call; the camera starts the same call with your camera already on.Web & desktop screenshotThe phone and camera icons in a one-to-one chat header. A group header has neither.This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.
The phone and camera icons in a one-to-one chat header. A group header has neither.Web & desktop iPhone screenshotThe phone and camera icons in a one-to-one chat header. A group header has neither.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.The phone and camera icons in a one-to-one chat header. A group header has neither.iPhone Android screenshotThe phone and camera icons in a one-to-one chat header. A group header has neither.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.The phone and camera icons in a one-to-one chat header. A group header has neither.Android - Your screen becomes the call screen: the other person's name, and under it a green pill reading Fully encrypted · Calling…, then Fully encrypted · Ringing… once their device has been reached. Cancel stops it.Web & desktop screenshotPlacing a call: the name, the green “Fully encrypted · Calling…” pill, and Cancel.This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.
Placing a call: the name, the green “Fully encrypted · Calling…” pill, and Cancel.Web & desktop iPhone screenshotPlacing a call: the name, the green “Fully encrypted · Calling…” pill, and Cancel.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Placing a call: the name, the green “Fully encrypted · Calling…” pill, and Cancel.iPhone Android screenshotPlacing a call: the name, the green “Fully encrypted · Calling…” pill, and Cancel.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Placing a call: the name, the green “Fully encrypted · Calling…” pill, and Cancel.Android - The first time you call from a device, the browser or the phone asks for the microphone (and the camera, for a video call). Encryption is set up before any media is captured, so the prompt comes after you have already pressed call.
If nobody answers, the call ends by itself after about 45 seconds and the conversation gets a Missed call line.
Take a call
An incoming call takes over the screen: the caller's name, Fully encrypted · Incoming call (or Incoming video call), and two controls — Decline and Accept. On a phone it vibrates in a repeating pattern rather than playing a ringtone.
The call itself travels over the app's own connection to the server. If the app is not running on that device, the person is sent a content-free push notice reading Incoming call, and opening it brings them to the app — which may take longer than the caller is prepared to wait. Treat calls as "we are both here now", not as a substitute for a phone line.
During the call
The bar at the top says Fully encrypted — end-to-end for as long as the call lasts. Under the name, the green pill carries the running time: Fully encrypted · 0:41 — one timer, nowhere else.
The controls are:
- Mute — your microphone off and on. The label changes to Unmute.
- Speaker — on a phone, switches between the earpiece and the loudspeaker.
- Camera — turns your own camera on or off at any point, which is how a voice call becomes a video call.
- End — hangs up for both of you.
The chevron at the top left is Back to chat: you can read and write messages while the call runs, and the call screen comes back when you tap the call indicator.
Video
Video is part of the same call, not a different kind of call. Either side may turn a camera on, either may turn it off again, and each camera shows only its owner's picture: the peer's picture fills the screen, yours sits in a small mirrored self-view labelled You · encrypted. When the other person has their camera off, their side reads Camera off · audio encrypted.
Two things can grey the camera out:
- The other device cannot encrypt video. The camera is disabled with Not available with this contact's device. The call is a normal encrypted voice call — video is never the reason a call fails.
- Your own browser or device cannot encrypt video frames. Same greyed camera, same voice call. Video needs a browser that can encrypt encoded video frames, and the VP8 codec at both ends.
On a phone the self-view can be tapped to switch between the front and the back camera. If the camera permission was refused, the control reads Camera blocked until the permission is granted in the phone's own settings.
What the conversation records
Every call leaves one line in the chat, written by the caller's device as an ordinary encrypted chat message. There is no separate call log or history screen — the record lives in the conversation, where the call happened:
| Line | What happened |
|---|---|
| Call · 3:12 | A voice call that connected, and how long it lasted |
| Video call · 4:18 | The same, with a camera on at some point |
| Missed call / Missed video call | It rang out unanswered |
| Call · not connected | The two devices could not reach each other — see When a call does not connect |
The line is a normal message in every other respect: it is encrypted, it sits in the transcript at its time, and it disappears with the conversation's self-destruct timer if one is on.
What our server sees
Cannot see
- Your voice, your picture, or anything either of you says
- The key the call is encrypted with — it is created inside an encrypted message to the other person
Can see
- That a call was set up between two addresses, and when it started and ended
Nothing about the media passes through our servers at all: the audio and video go straight between the two devices. That is what makes the picture and the sound good, and it has one consequence worth knowing about before you call someone — see When a call does not connect.
Common questions
Can I call a group?
No. Calls are one-to-one. The call controls do not appear in a group chat.
Can I call someone who is not on Private.Ki?
No. A call is encrypted to the other person's key, so both ends must be Private.Ki accounts. Invite them first — see Invite someone who isn't on Private.Ki.
Is the call recorded anywhere?
Not by us. There is nothing to record: the media never touches our servers, and no copy of it is stored on either device by Private.Ki.
The phone icon is missing in a chat.
Either the other party is a group, or that device has no call engine — an iPhone app today, or a browser too old for encrypted calls. On a browser the icon is shown and the refusal comes when you press it, so you can read which browsers work.