Seal Chat 1.9.5

What's new in 1.9.5

• Fix (Android): a long message preview in the contact list made the whole screen scroll sideways. The preview (and a long contact name) is now cut short with "…".

What's new in 1.9.4

• Fix: on the first start, "Link to my Seal Chat on another device" showed an empty screen (on Android, Back did nothing either). Desktop and Android.
• New check: test/setup-steps-test.js runs the real setup steps for every welcome button.

Earlier in 1.9

• 1.9.3 — Seal Chat Web is shared by your linked devices: pair a phone once and it works with whichever of your devices is running. Needs Seal Chat Web 1.3.2.
• 1.9.2 — Fix: "Link a new device…" and invite codes failed on the desktop with "Digest method not supported".
• 1.9.1 — The Android app takes the same signed update files as the desktop.

Full details: README.txt.

Downloads

	File
Windows	SealChat-Setup-1.7.0.exe
macOS 13+	SealChat-1.7.0-arm64.dmg (Apple silicon) · SealChat-1.7.0-x64.dmg (Intel)
macOS 12	SealChat-1.7.0-macOS12-arm64.dmg · SealChat-1.7.0-macOS12-x64.dmg
Linux	SealChat-1.7.0-x86_64.AppImage · SealChat-1.7.0-amd64.deb
Android	SealChat-1.9.3.apk
Seal Chat Web	SealChat-Web-1.3.2.zip (+ .sig)
Update file	SealChat-1.9.5.sealchat (+ .sig)
Help guide	Seal-Chat-1-8-6-HELP-Guide.pdf

The desktop installers are version 1.7.0 and the Android app is 1.9.3: both update themselves to 1.9.5 on first start, from the signed update file.

SealChat-source-1.9.5.zip is the same source as this tag.

Seal Chat 1.9.4

What's new in 1.9.4

• Fix: on the first start, "Link to my Seal Chat on another device" showed an empty screen (on Android, Back did nothing either). Desktop and Android.
• New check: test/setup-steps-test.js runs the real setup steps for every welcome button.

Also since 1.9.0

• 1.9.3 — Seal Chat Web is shared by your linked devices: pair a phone once and it works with whichever of your devices is running. Needs Seal Chat Web 1.3.2.
• 1.9.2 — Fix: "Link a new device…" and invite codes failed on the desktop with "Digest method not supported".
• 1.9.1 — The Android app takes the same signed update files as the desktop.

Full details: README.txt.

Downloads

	File
Windows	SealChat-Setup-1.7.0.exe
macOS 13+	SealChat-1.7.0-arm64.dmg (Apple silicon) · SealChat-1.7.0-x64.dmg (Intel)
macOS 12	SealChat-1.7.0-macOS12-arm64.dmg · SealChat-1.7.0-macOS12-x64.dmg
Linux	SealChat-1.7.0-x86_64.AppImage · SealChat-1.7.0-amd64.deb
Android	SealChat-1.9.3.apk
Seal Chat Web	SealChat-Web-1.3.2.zip (+ .sig)
Update file	SealChat-1.9.4.sealchat (+ .sig)
Help guide	Seal-Chat-1-8-6-HELP-Guide.pdf

The desktop installers are version 1.7.0 and the Android app is 1.9.3: both update themselves to 1.9.4 on first start, from the signed update file.

SealChat-source-1.9.4.zip is the same source as this tag.

Seal Chat 1.9

WHAT'S NEW IN 1.9.2
• Fix: Settings → Your devices → "Link a new device…" (and making or
using an invite code) failed on the desktop with "Digest method not
supported". A .onion address ends with a SHA3-256 checksum, and
Electron's crypto library has no SHA3. Seal Chat now computes SHA3-256
itself (src/main/sha3.js, checked against the FIPS 202 test values and
Node's own SHA3); the addresses are exactly the same as before.
• New check: npm run test:electron runs the engine tests inside
Electron's own runtime (plain Node.js has SHA3, which is why the tests
missed this). It runs before every update file is built.
• The Android fallback ranges for emoji / email checks now come from
Electron's Unicode (17.0), so phone and desktop treat emoji the same.

WHAT'S NEW IN 1.9.1
• Android: the Android app runs this same code, and now takes these same
signed update files (it unpacks the verified file and runs it; an update
can say it needs a newer Android app: update.json "android":
{ "minShell": N }, or "android": false to keep it off phones).
• Android fix (found by a developer testing the first APK): the phone's
Node.js can't compile regular expressions with Unicode property escapes
(\p{…}), so Seal Chat crashed on start. The emoji check (peer.js) and
openpgp's email check now use noicu.js: the \p{…} pattern where it
works, the same character class as explicit ranges where it doesn't.
openpgp is patched after "npm install" (build/patch-openpgp.js) and
again by the phone for each update it installs.
• New release check (npm test, and before every update file is built):
test/noicu-test.js parses all Node-side code and fails on any \p{…}
regex literal, checks the fallbacks match, and runs openpgp and the
emoji check as they run on the phone.
• Nothing changes on Windows, macOS or Linux.

WHAT'S NEW IN 1.9.0
• Linked devices: use one Seal Chat ID on several computers (and, later,
the Android app). Each device has its own address; contacts can reach
you at any of them, so it doesn't matter which one you gave them.
- On the computer you already use: Settings → Your devices → "Link a
new device…" shows a one-time code (link-482-crystal-…, 10 minutes).
- On the new computer: the welcome screen → "Link to my Seal Chat on
another device", the code, your key passphrase and a name for it.
The new computer gets your key (still locked with your passphrase) over
Tor, protected by the code (SPAKE2, like invite codes; 3 wrong tries
close it). It makes its own address and device key.
• Your devices keep each other up to date, through Tor, sealed with your
own key: messages contacts send you, messages you send (each one is
sent by the device you wrote it on), read status, reactions, deleted
messages, contacts and requests, your name and picture, and the mailbox
address. A newly linked device gets all contacts and chats.
• Contacts on 1.9 try your other addresses when the one they know doesn't
answer. Contacts on older versions keep using the address they have.
• Settings → Your devices lists your devices, when each was last in touch
and how many updates wait for it; "Remove…" takes one off your ID
(contacts are told; messages it was still sending are sent from here).
A removed device still has your key — if one is lost or stolen, make a
new ID.
• Files you send stay on the device you sent them from; your other
devices show the message. Files you receive can be downloaded on each.