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Evgeny @ SimpleX Chat
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* docs: user guide for the 7.1 apps * docs, website: guide order, badge benefits, message expiry; soft line breaks on the site * docs: guide videos for the first profile, invitations, joining and the address * docs: guide screens with the iPhone status bar * docs: guide shows full and cut screens only * docs: guide pages corrected in place, keeping master's structure * docs: group chat and SimpleX address pictures in the iPhone frame * docs: plainer wording in the guide * docs: guide checked against how SimpleX explains its features * docs: guide answers on profiles, channel privacy, SOCKS and names * docs: android guide picture from the emulator in the pixel 7 frame
153 lines
6.6 KiB
Markdown
153 lines
6.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Linked devices
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---
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# Linked devices
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You can use the chat profiles of the SimpleX app on your mobile (iOS or Android)
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from the desktop app. Your profiles, contacts and messages stay on the mobile.
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The desktop app shows them, and the mobile app performs the actions that you
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take on the desktop. The mobile connects to the desktop over the local network,
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without a server, and the connection is protected by quantum resistant
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encryption.
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To link the devices:
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- The mobile and the desktop must be connected to the same local network, and
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the desktop firewall must allow the connection.
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- Both apps must have compatible versions. Otherwise the mobile shows **Not
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compatible!** or **Incompatible version**.
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The desktop keeps its own chat profiles, if you created any, and you can switch
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between them and the profiles of the mobile.
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## Link a mobile
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On the desktop:
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1. Open the profile menu and click **Link a mobile** (**Linked mobiles** after
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the first link).
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2. Optionally, change **This device name**. The mobile will see this name.
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3. Click **Link a mobile** under **Devices**. The desktop shows a QR code.
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On a new desktop, the first screen also offers **Link a mobile**, next to
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**Create your profile**, so you can link a mobile without creating a profile on
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the desktop. The desktop can first offer to set a [database
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passphrase](./managing-data.md#database-passphrase), and then it shows the QR
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code.
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On the mobile:
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4. Open the profile menu and tap **Use from desktop**. The app opens **Connect
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to desktop**.
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5. Optionally, change **This device name**.
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6. Scan the QR code from the desktop, under **Scan QR code from desktop**.
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7. Compare the session codes: the mobile shows its code under **Verify code with
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desktop**, and the desktop under **Verify code on mobile**. If the codes are
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the same, tap **Confirm** on the mobile.
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The desktop then shows the chats of the mobile.
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<img src="./images/linked-devices-connect-to-desktop.png" alt="Connect to desktop screen on iOS with the device name and the QR code scanner" width="300">
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The desktop waits 60 seconds for the mobile to connect, then closes the QR code.
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To get a new QR code, click **Link a mobile** again.
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## Session code verification
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Each connection between the mobile and the desktop has a session code, and both
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devices show it. When the codes are the same, the mobile and the desktop are in
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the same session.
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- When you connect to a new desktop, the mobile always asks you to confirm the
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code.
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- When you connect to a desktop that you linked before, the mobile confirms the
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code without asking. To be asked each time, turn on **Verify connections**: it
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is off by default.
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While the devices are connected, the mobile shows the code under **Session
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code**. The desktop shows it under **Verify code on mobile** when you click the
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mobile in **Linked mobiles**.
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## Connect again
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After the first link, the mobile and the desktop remember each other.
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1. On the desktop, open **Linked mobiles** and click the mobile. The desktop
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shows a QR code (**Scan from mobile**).
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2. On the mobile, open **Use from desktop**:
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- If **Discover via local network** is on, the mobile looks for linked
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desktops on the local network ("Waiting for desktop…"). When it finds the
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desktop, it connects, or it shows **Connect** if **Connect automatically**
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is off. To scan the QR code instead, tap **Scan QR code**.
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- Otherwise, scan the QR code.
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## Local network discovery
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When the desktop shows the QR code for a linked mobile and **Discoverable via
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local network** is on, the desktop also announces itself on the local network.
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The announcement is encrypted for that mobile. A mobile with **Discover via
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local network** on receives it and connects without scanning.
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| Setting | Device | Default | What it does |
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|---|---|---|---|
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| **Discoverable via local network** | Desktop | On | The desktop announces itself to linked mobiles |
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| **Discover via local network** | Mobile | On (iOS), off (Android) | The mobile looks for linked desktops when you open **Use from desktop** |
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| **Connect automatically** | Mobile | On | The mobile connects to a found desktop without asking |
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| **Verify connections** | Mobile | Off | The mobile asks you to confirm the session code each time |
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On the desktop, **Discoverable via local network** is on the screen **Link a
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mobile** (**Linked mobiles**). On the mobile, the other settings are in **Use
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from desktop** > **Linked desktops** > **Linked desktop options**; **Linked
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desktops** is shown after you link a desktop, and **Connect automatically** is
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shown while **Discover via local network** is on.
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## Desktop address and port
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Below the QR code, the desktop shows its network address and the port that it
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uses for the connection.
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- If the computer has several network interfaces, choose the address from the
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list.
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- The port is random by default (**Random**). To use a fixed port, enter a
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number above 1023. If a firewall runs on the desktop, open this port in it so
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that the mobile can connect.
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After you change the address or the port, click **Refresh** to show a new QR
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code. The address and the port that you choose are saved for that mobile.
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## While the devices are connected
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On the desktop:
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- The profile menu shows the name of the mobile and **This device**. Click
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**This device** to use the profiles of the desktop, and the name of the mobile
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to return to the profiles of the mobile.
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- Files that you send are copied to the mobile, which sends them. Files in the
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chats of the mobile are loaded from the mobile when you open them.
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- To disconnect, click the Wi-Fi icon next to the name of the mobile in the
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profile menu, or click the mobile in **Linked mobiles** and click
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**Disconnect**.
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On the mobile:
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- The screen **Connected to desktop** shows the name and version of the desktop,
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the session code and **Disconnect**.
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- On iOS, keep the app open while you use it from the desktop. The session ends
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when the app goes to the background, and the screen of the iPhone stays on
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while the session is active.
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- On Android, closing the screen asks **Disconnect desktop?**, because only one
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device can work at a time.
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The database of the mobile, its passphrase and its network settings are managed
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on the mobile.
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## Remove a linked device
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- On the desktop, open **Linked mobiles** and right-click the mobile, then click
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**Delete**. The files of that mobile that the desktop loaded are deleted too.
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While you use the profiles of the mobile, the menu has **Disconnect** in place
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of **Delete**.
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- On the mobile, open **Use from desktop** > **Linked desktops**. On iOS, swipe
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the desktop to the left and confirm **Unlink**. On Android, tap and hold the
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desktop, then tap **Delete**.
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