How to install Solo2

One minute. No app store. No prior registration.

Solo2 is a web application. It works directly in the browser, but if you install it on your home screen it behaves like a native app: its own icon, notifications and full screen.

Use Safari, the blue browser with a compass. With another browser these steps won't work the same way.

1
Type the address. Type solo2.net and tap Go.
2
Tap the three dots (⋯) at the bottom right.
3
Tap «Share».
4
Swipe up until you see «Add to Home Screen» and tap it.
5
Tap «Add», top right. Leave «Open as Web App» turned on.
6
That's it. Solo2 appears as another icon on your home screen.
7
Open it from that icon. It runs in full screen, without Safari bars.

Alerts. To receive them, always open Solo2 from its icon, not from Safari. When your phone asks if Solo2 can send you alerts, tap «Allow».

Don't see «Add to Home Screen»? You're probably not in Safari. Open solo2.net in Safari.

On iPhone, the browser and the installed app are separate spaces, each with its own data. If you create your account in Safari, your messages will stay in Safari — the installed app will be empty. Install first, create your account afterwards.

Next: how your data lives ↓

Use Chrome, the browser with the red, yellow, green, and blue circle.

1
Open Chrome and go to solo2.net/app/. Tap the blue «Install app» button.
2
Chrome asks you. Tap «Install».
3
Wait a few seconds. You'll see the notice «Installing Solo2…».
4
Look for the Solo2 icon on your home screen. If you don't see it, check your app list.
5
Open it from the icon. It runs in full screen, without the address bar.
6
Alerts. If your phone asks if Solo2 can send you alerts, tap «Allow». To verify: Settings > Notifications > Solo2, with «Allow notifications» turned on.
7
That's how Solo2 alerts arrive on your screen.

Don't see the «Install app» button? Tap Chrome's three dots (⋮) and choose «Install app» or «Add to Home screen».

On Android, browser and app are the same thing. Installing just adds the icon and notifications.

Next: how your data lives ↓

When you open Solo2 you will see an empty list, and that is normal.

How to start

Your data lives on your device, not on our server

Solo2 doesn't keep your messages: they stay on the phone, tablet, or computer where you use them. That's why they are yours alone, and taking care of them is up to you.

Your 24 words are the master key. Write them on paper and keep it safe: you can find them in «My data → View your 24 words». With them you can recover your identity on any new device, even if our server no longer exists. No one can restore them for you, not even us.

If your phone gets lost, broken, or stolen, whatever was only on it is gone with it. And if you log in from a computer and see it empty, that's normal: a new device starts with nothing.

Here's the magic. Log in with your same user on another phone, tablet, or computer. As soon as you have Solo2 open with your user on the old and new device at the same time, your data travels on its own, encrypted, from one to the other in seconds. Now you have two copies: if one fails, the other has it. Repeat it with as many as you like.

Remember: the magic only happens while you are connected on both devices at the same time.

A heads-up: what you delete on one device is deleted on all. To keep a separate copy, use «My data».

Computer

On a computer, there's nothing to install. Open solo2.net in your browser and that's it. Notifications work in all desktop browsers. Solo2 works the same in a tab as an installed app.

Important on iPhone: install first, create your account afterwards

On iPhone, your Solo2 data — your messages, files and contacts — is kept inside the browser or installed app where you first sign up. They are separate spaces.

If you create your account in Safari and then install the app, they will be two separate spaces. Your data stays in Safari and the installed app will be empty. Notifications won’t work from the browser either.

That’s why, on iPhone, we always recommend installing first and creating your account afterwards, from the installed app. On Android and desktop this is not necessary — the browser and the app share the same space.

Why is Solo2 not currently on the App Store or Google Play? Because being in the store leaves a trace in your purchase history, and privacy begins before sending the first message. We are preparing that route as a second option, without changing this one — when it becomes available, the choice will be yours.