# FAQs ## The basics ### Do my friends need to install anything? Only if they want to. Members can use the Phlip app (Android) or any modern browser. Only the **host** needs the app — the server is built into it. ### Does it cost anything? Hosting and every feature are free. The only optional costs: a **domain** if you want a permanent public address (see [[Guides/Go public with Cloudflare]]), and a cosmetic **supporter pack** — themes, card finishes, Open Pitch card backs, a badge. Supporter purchases never unlock features: hosting and everything functional is free for everyone, as a founding principle. ### Is it open source? Yes — Apache-2.0 licensed. ### Do I need an account with Phlip the company? There is no Phlip company account. Your identity is a username + password **per server**, held by that server (your friend's phone), not by us. ## Hosting ### What can I host on? Any Android phone running the Phlip app — a recycled spare that lives on a charger, **or your everyday phone**: hosting runs as a foreground service alongside normal use. One phone can host multiple servers. See [[Guides/Host a server on your Android phone]]. ### Does the host phone need a SIM card? No. Any internet connection works. ### What happens if the host phone is off or offline? The server is unreachable until it's back — like a clubhouse with the lights off. All data is stored on the host, so nothing is lost and everything resumes intact. (Members' personal spaces keep working offline regardless.) ### How do people connect from outside the host's Wi-Fi? The **Public** toggle opens a Cloudflare Tunnel from the app — either a free temporary `.trycloudflare.com` address or a permanent one on your own domain. No router setup. One public server per phone at a time. Guide: [[Guides/Go public with Cloudflare]]. ### Where exactly is my data? On the host phone, in a per-server data file. Cloudflare relays public connections but your group's content lives only on the host — and message/event content is end-to-end encrypted anyway (below). ## Security & privacy ### Is it end-to-end encrypted? **Message and event content — yes.** Content is encrypted with AES-GCM-256 using a group key. Your personal password does the heavy lifting: the group key is wrapped for you under a key derived from your password, and the password itself is never sent over the wire — the server only ever stores a salt and a verifier. Nobody, including someone holding the join code, can read content or impersonate you without your password. **Not everything is covered yet.** Some metadata — event time fields, display names, icons, routing information — is not yet end-to-end encrypted, and the host can see the IP of a pending join request (that's part of deciding who to admit). Extending E2E to remaining metadata is on the [[Roadmap]]. We'd rather you know the exact boundary than assume the wrong one. ### What if I forget my password? The host removes your old membership and re-admits you with the join code. Your password is a real cryptographic key, so there's no "reset email" — there's no company to send one. ### Can someone with the join code impersonate me? No. The join code gets you to the door; your per-user password verifier is what proves you're you. Unrecognised devices are asked for the join code *and* your password. ### Who decides who's in? The host — every new member goes through **Approve/Deny**, and the member directory lets the host manage roles (host / admin / moderator / user / viewer) or remove people. ### What about photos? Deliberately minimal. Chat is for coordinating plans — no photo uploads, no galleries on the server. **Memories** photos are stored only on your own device, never uploaded; sharing a memory composes a card image on your device that you choose to send. ## Other apps ### Do we all have to leave our group chat? No. Phlip is an events planner, not a chat replacement — most groups keep chatting wherever they already do and use Phlip for the part chat is bad at: turning "we should do something" into a real plan with a time, a place and an RSVP list. You can share any event as a card image with a link, so people who never open Phlip still see the plan. ### Connecting Phlip to other chat apps Bringing plans in and out of tools like WhatsApp and Discord automatically is planned, not built — it's on the [[Roadmap]]. For now, sharing an event card and link is the way to reach people outside a server. --- Still stuck? Start with [[Guides/Start Here]].