Where your messages are
- iPhone and Android: open the Vault tab and tap the envelope at the top right. A red dot means something is unread.
- iPad: Messages in the sidebar, with an unread count.
- Mac: the Messages button on your profile.
- Web: Messages on the Vault tab, or in the sidebar on a computer (shortcut g m).
Write to someone
Start a message
- In Messages, tap the compose button (New Message).
- In To:, type at least two letters of a name, or paste an npub.
- Write your message and tap Send.
You can also tap Message on someone's profile or on their card in the WoT tab, or Message seller on a Marketplace listing, which fills in the listing for you. On the web, type a name or paste an npub and tap Open.
Opening a conversation marks it read. Mark all as read is at the top of the list. Read state stays on each device.
Photos
Sending a photo
In a conversation, tap Attach photo (Android: Attach image, web: Photo), paste one with Paste Photo, or drag it in on a Mac or iPad. The photo goes to your media server first, and its link goes in the message. Photos other than GIFs are re-saved, which removes their location.
On iPhone, the New Message screen has no photo button: send the first message, then add photos in the conversation.
You can select and copy text in a message on iPhone and Android. There is no way to delete a message.
Encryption
NIP-17 and NIP-04
Messages are sent with NIP-17: the message is sealed and wrapped so relays can't see who it's from, who it's for, or what it says. A copy goes to you too, so your other devices see it.
Some older apps only speak the older NIP-04, which hides the text but not who's talking. Nostr Vault reads both. On iPhone and Android, the bar above the message box says NIP-17 (encrypted); tap Switch to send NIP-04 (legacy) in that conversation. It goes back to NIP-17 next time you open it. The web app sends NIP-17 only.
If you sign with a signer app, some messages may wait for it: "N messages are waiting for your signer to open them". Open the signer, approve, and tap Retry.
Where messages go
DM relays and who can reach you
Your DM inbox is a list of relays (the DMs column under Settings → Relays → Relays). Other apps send your messages there. Keep at least two: with No DM relay people can't message you, and with Only one DM relay nobody can if it goes down. If your Mac is your vault, its inbox is listed first.
When you send, Nostr Vault uses the other person's DM inbox, and falls back to their normal relays if they don't have one.
Someone delivering straight to your vault's own inbox has to be in your web of trust. Follow Distance under Settings → Your Vault Relay → Who Can Reach You sets how far out that goes (more). There is no separate requests folder. Messages from people you've blocked are hidden.
What happened
Your notifications
On iPhone and Android, the Vault tab opens on your activity: replies, mentions, quotes, likes, reposts, zaps and new followers. Likes, zaps and reposts on the same post fold into one line ("Ann and 3 others"), and new followers fold per day. Tap Mentions to see only replies, mentions and quotes. The web app has the same list under Notifications.
Settings
Notification settings
Open Settings → Notifications.
- Notifications turns them all on or off.
- New Notes in Your Feed tells you when new posts arrive.
- Sound picks the alert sound.
- For each account: Mentions, Replies, Direct Messages, Zaps, Reactions, Reposts and New Followers.
Only people in your web of trust can set off an alert. Messages, zaps and follows always come through. A new follower outside your web is counted ("3 new followers") instead of named.
A message alert says who it's from. If you don't see it, the copy left in Notification Center just says "New message", without the sender or the text.
How they arrive
No push server
Your vault makes the notifications on your phone. Nothing goes through Apple's or Google's push servers.
- iPhone: iOS wakes the app in the background now and then to check. Alerts can come a little late while the app is closed.
- Android: the vault keeps running, shown by the "Nostr Vault Relay" notification, so alerts come right away.
- While the app is open, new things show as a pill at the top instead of a system alert. When you come back after a while, one pill sums it up, like "5 mentions · 2 zaps · 1 DM". Android files pills you didn't see under "Missed while open".
- The web app doesn't send notifications.