Night Drop

Night Drop is an open-source Android application in the Communication category for privacy-focused messaging. It is designed for people who want local control over their conversations and who prefer communication that does not depend on ordinary internet connections. The software is free under the AGPL-3.0-or-later license.

Messages use end-to-end encryption based on the Signal Double Ratchet, so only the sender and recipient can read them. Communication uses peer-to-peer Tor by default, with no clearnet route and Tor as the only network egress. A person who is not already authorized cannot send the first message until the recipient approves them by scanning a pre-authorized QR code or exchanging a short code with secret words intended to help prevent interception. Safety numbers can also be scanned or compared to check that communication has not been intercepted.

Messages are stored on the device by default. Users may enable server storage for up to 24 hours, and the chat shows a persistent warning while that option is active; an untrusted store-and-forward relay can also support offline delivery using opaque encrypted blobs and unlinkable handles. Encrypted backups are controlled by the user, with a recovery password generated on the device, shown once, and never sent to a server, so a lost password makes the backup unrecoverable by design. Night Drop includes no analytics, crash reporters, advertising SDKs, Google Play Services, or third-party push service.

As an Android messaging application, Night Drop fits installations that prioritize privacy and direct control of stored data and network access. Its releases are reproducible, allowing anyone to rebuild them from source and confirm a byte-for-byte match. MirrorNest stores the official build directly on its own infrastructure and scans it for malware before publishing it. F-Droid installations do not check automatically for updates, while sideloaded builds and the desktop AppImage may ask the Night Drop onion site over Tor at most once per day whether a newer version exists, report only the result, and never install updates automatically.