Tessa Brown
@tessa.germnetwork.com
you're in her DMs, I made her Germ DM 🔌
ceo and cofounder of @germnetwork.com 🌱 san franciscan today, chicagoan 4eva
lately writing here https://rhosf.leaflet.pub
these skeets delete
ceo and cofounder of @germnetwork.com 🌱 san franciscan today, chicagoan 4eva
lately writing here https://rhosf.leaflet.pub
these skeets delete
But web implies the ability to sign in anywhere and have your encrypted content decrypted on that random device. Facebook Messenger is one of the only large scale implementations, indicating the difficulty of the problem. Luckily, the guy who led it is one of our advisors 😉
February 14, 2026 at 1:11 AM
But web implies the ability to sign in anywhere and have your encrypted content decrypted on that random device. Facebook Messenger is one of the only large scale implementations, indicating the difficulty of the problem. Luckily, the guy who led it is one of our advisors 😉
No, web for e2ee messaging is uniquely hard. Securing the “ends” of the conversation is all about ownership of keys. An app on your device is easy (relatively) ownership. That’s why eg setting up Signal or WhatsApp on multiple devices involves linking *devices,* not just signing in.
Contd
Contd
wouldn't it be possible (and maybe even easier) to work on a web version at least?
(genuinely asking, i have no idea)
(genuinely asking, i have no idea)
February 14, 2026 at 1:10 AM
No, web for e2ee messaging is uniquely hard. Securing the “ends” of the conversation is all about ownership of keys. An app on your device is easy (relatively) ownership. That’s why eg setting up Signal or WhatsApp on multiple devices involves linking *devices,* not just signing in.
Contd
Contd
i really am sorry to the android users who have been ignored by companies with a lot more resources than us.
that's not us. we're basically two ios devs in a trenchcoat. you probably wont believe me when i say that serving you secure local-first software is actually our mission. hold tight 🙏
that's not us. we're basically two ios devs in a trenchcoat. you probably wont believe me when i say that serving you secure local-first software is actually our mission. hold tight 🙏
February 13, 2026 at 8:51 PM
i really am sorry to the android users who have been ignored by companies with a lot more resources than us.
that's not us. we're basically two ios devs in a trenchcoat. you probably wont believe me when i say that serving you secure local-first software is actually our mission. hold tight 🙏
that's not us. we're basically two ios devs in a trenchcoat. you probably wont believe me when i say that serving you secure local-first software is actually our mission. hold tight 🙏
to be fair, we're in an app, not web 😅 web *is* really hard!
February 13, 2026 at 6:40 PM
to be fair, we're in an app, not web 😅 web *is* really hard!
Planned and we're working hard toward it, but not coming immediately.
February 13, 2026 at 6:18 PM
Planned and we're working hard toward it, but not coming immediately.
Totally private DMs for any atproto user on iOS, on Germ DM now.
I see you saying Germ isn’t on-protocol and yet I’m able to DM a Blacksky user who has been banned from bsky (can’t use bsky DMs) on it because it works with Blacksky’s infrastructure.
And, the messages are encrypted.
(The Bluesky team can read all of your DMs, use Germ or Signal)
And, the messages are encrypted.
(The Bluesky team can read all of your DMs, use Germ or Signal)
February 13, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Totally private DMs for any atproto user on iOS, on Germ DM now.
Germ DMs are completely private, so only you and the person you're talking to can read them.
And they're built on atproto, so whether you're friends from Bluesky, Blacksky, Skylight, Flashes, Leaflet, Popfeed or more, you can chat securely in Germ from your handle.
And they're built on atproto, so whether you're friends from Bluesky, Blacksky, Skylight, Flashes, Leaflet, Popfeed or more, you can chat securely in Germ from your handle.
February 13, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Germ DMs are completely private, so only you and the person you're talking to can read them.
And they're built on atproto, so whether you're friends from Bluesky, Blacksky, Skylight, Flashes, Leaflet, Popfeed or more, you can chat securely in Germ from your handle.
And they're built on atproto, so whether you're friends from Bluesky, Blacksky, Skylight, Flashes, Leaflet, Popfeed or more, you can chat securely in Germ from your handle.
it's on the roadmap and technically feasible, but not our first priority right now.
February 13, 2026 at 2:27 PM
it's on the roadmap and technically feasible, but not our first priority right now.
both work for me!!
February 13, 2026 at 4:41 AM
both work for me!!
Reposted by Tessa Brown
I am hereby declaring myself GermBoy™.
there’s no germ without you!! thanks for checking us out!💚
February 13, 2026 at 4:07 AM
I am hereby declaring myself GermBoy™.
Honest to god my 5th grade fantasy
I’m only going to be into this if I can record an outgoing voice message answering machine style that is just the chorus of no doubt - spiderwebs
February 13, 2026 at 4:03 AM
Honest to god my 5th grade fantasy
there’s no germ without you!! thanks for checking us out!💚
February 13, 2026 at 4:01 AM
there’s no germ without you!! thanks for checking us out!💚
ok 50,000 people is a long way off
February 13, 2026 at 1:42 AM
ok 50,000 people is a long way off
if your friends (ppl you follow) click your Germ link, it opens our App Clip and they can start chatting with you! no initial download needed 💫
February 13, 2026 at 1:40 AM
if your friends (ppl you follow) click your Germ link, it opens our App Clip and they can start chatting with you! no initial download needed 💫
Germ uses your atproto DID as an authenticated identity in a way that Signal is not built to and has expressed it does not want to do. Check out our original announcement, linked to a deeper technical dive, here
www.germnetwork.com/blog/germdm-...
www.germnetwork.com/blog/germdm-...
Germ DM x ATProto is Now in Beta — Germ Network
Germ DM is now a Bluesky messenger.
We’ve integrated AT Protocol into our iOS app, so E2EE DMs have come to the Atmosphere! Germ DM is the end-to-end encrypted messenger that lets you talk freely—wi...
www.germnetwork.com
February 13, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Germ uses your atproto DID as an authenticated identity in a way that Signal is not built to and has expressed it does not want to do. Check out our original announcement, linked to a deeper technical dive, here
www.germnetwork.com/blog/germdm-...
www.germnetwork.com/blog/germdm-...
i loooooove look around you
February 13, 2026 at 1:34 AM
i loooooove look around you
we don't want to leave anywhere. we want to move carefully and stay places. everything we do is designed to onboard users and serve them diligently for a very, very long time.
all the things you want, we want
all the things you want, we want
February 13, 2026 at 1:24 AM
we don't want to leave anywhere. we want to move carefully and stay places. everything we do is designed to onboard users and serve them diligently for a very, very long time.
all the things you want, we want
all the things you want, we want
the countries is not a dev money thing or even a translator money thing it's a lawyer money thing. and also just being careful. there is a huge global range of shifting legislation around safety and end-to-end encryption
February 13, 2026 at 1:15 AM
the countries is not a dev money thing or even a translator money thing it's a lawyer money thing. and also just being careful. there is a huge global range of shifting legislation around safety and end-to-end encryption
Why E2EE? - Real Housewives of San Francisco
We either have private lives, or we don’t.
rhosf.leaflet.pub
February 13, 2026 at 1:13 AM
It is a safety choice we made until we build out more features. A guardrail to keep folks talking to users they are connected to on atproto already
February 12, 2026 at 11:39 PM
It is a safety choice we made until we build out more features. A guardrail to keep folks talking to users they are connected to on atproto already
The engineers answer your questions better than I do tbh!
Thanks Mark for writing up this dev guide! 🫡
And as per usual, DM me or Mark or hit up our discord discord.gg/j9atQkhC if you have any questions
And as per usual, DM me or Mark or hit up our discord discord.gg/j9atQkhC if you have any questions
Many thanks to the Bluesky team for working with us on this experimental integration. Any atproto app can build this! Here's our developer guidance on the underlying atproto record and how to render a Germ DM button in your application!
mark-germ.leaflet.pub/3mem22lhe222t
mark-germ.leaflet.pub/3mem22lhe222t
February 12, 2026 at 11:26 PM
The engineers answer your questions better than I do tbh!