Sealed on your device
Messages, captions, replies and files are encrypted and signed on your device, then wrapped for each recipient with RSA-3072. The relay only ever forwards sealed envelopes.
Private · Customizable · Free
Talk in your own dimension.
Illusion is a private messenger with encrypted messages and files, disappearing chats, voice notes and ten aura themes — on Windows, Android, the web and inside Telegram.
Windows · Android · Web · Telegram
Sealed on your device
No third-party scripts
29 languages
Free during preview
Inside Illusion
Everything a conversation needs. Nothing it doesn't.
Built around the small things — quotes, timers, voice notes, auras — without giving up control of your words.
Every screen you own
A portable Windows app, a native Android shell, the browser app and a Telegram Mini App. One account, one network — the conversation continues where you left it.
WindowsAndroidWebTelegram
Voice notes, sealed
Hold the mic to record up to 40 seconds. Recordings ride the same encrypted attachment pipeline as photos, videos and documents.
Timers that tidy up
Set a chat to disappear from one minute to 30 days. Either participant can change the timer; new messages follow it from the moment they land.
Open once
Send text, a photo or a video with View once. The recipient gets a sealed Open button, and the relay drops its copy after the first use.
Search, quotes and pins
Find any loaded message with in-chat search and step through hits with ↑/↓. Quote replies inline and pin the chats you keep coming back to.
Profiles with auras
Display name, description, fonts and colors — plus Orbit, Glow, Prism and Checkerboard effects, and ten aura themes that recolor the whole app.
Verified, device by device
Compare key fingerprints out of band and mark a contact verified. Review every signed-in device and sign any of them out instantly.
Security model
The relay forwards. It can't read.
Illusion keeps the keys on your devices. What travels is envelopes and routing information — never plaintext.
On your device
Text, captions, replies and file keys are sealed with AES-256-CBC plus an HMAC-SHA-256 tag, then wrapped with RSA-OAEP for each recipient.
On the relay
Sealed envelopes and public keys. The relay can see accounts, contact pairs, timestamps, sizes and IPs — it cannot open the bodies.
On their device
The receiver checks the signature and MAC, unwraps the content key with a private key that never left their device, and decrypts in memory.
Honest limits
What we don't claim
There is no forward secrecy or post-compromise recovery, and this custom protocol has not had an independent audit. A compromised device key exposes messages encrypted to it. Relay operators can retain ciphertext, and screenshots or modified clients can't be prevented.
Read the full security modelCloudflare terminates TLS for the hosted relay, so Cloudflare sees connection metadata. There are no analytics, no remote fonts and no third-party scripts on the app or this site.
Appearance
Ten auras. One messenger.
Each palette is sampled from Sol's RNG aura artwork and checked for readable contrast, then applied across the web app, Windows and Android alike. Try them live in the preview above.
Illusionary
The original blue orbit.
Astraios
Starlit teal.
Calamity of the Crimson Moon
Crimson eclipse.
Dreammetric
Violet drift.
Eden
Silver void.
Hellborn
Ember glow.
Monarch
Violet crown.
Oblivion
Deep purple.
Oppression
Steel and shadow.
Tomorrow
Dawn horizon.
Aura names are proper nouns and stay as written in every language.
Get Illusion
Start in under a minute.
One account everywhere. Preview builds are unsigned or debug-signed — compare the published SHA-256 before installing.
Web app
Runs in any modern browser and installs as a home-screen app. Keys stay in this browser's protected storage.
Open the web appWindows
Portable EXE for Windows 10/11 with .NET Framework 4.8. No installer, no auto-updater, unsigned preview build.
Android
Android 6.0 or later. A WebView shell around the hosted app with microphone support for voice notes.
Telegram
Launch the Mini App and receive installers or a ready-made connection file straight from the bot.
Open @IllusedBotEvery release publishes a SHA-256 manifest: release.json · Android release.json. The Windows app is unsigned and Android uses a debug key — prefer the web app if you don't want to sideload.
Languages
29 languages. Every screen.
The whole interface — chats, timers, settings, recovery, reports — is translated. Illusion and aura names stay as written.
- English
- Русский
- Español
- Français
- Deutsch
- Português (BR)
- Українська
- Türkçe
- العربية
- 日本語
- 한국어
- हिन्दी
- 中文
- + 16
Policy documents are currently English only.
Get started
Four steps, then you're in.
-
01
Pick a client
Open the web app, install Windows or Android, or launch the Mini App from Telegram.
-
02
Choose a name
Usernames are 2–24 letters, digits, _ or - and are case-insensitive. Passwords need at least 10 characters.
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03
Save your key
Download the .illusionkey backup when it's offered. It's the only way to read old messages on another device.
-
04
Find someone
Search the exact username, or start with Saved messages. Ctrl+K finds people, Ctrl+F searches a chat.
Your password resets the account, not the encryption. Without the device key or its backup, old chats can't be decrypted — by anyone. The preview is 18+ and limited to 1000 active accounts.
FAQ
Fair questions, straight answers.
Is Illusion free?
Yes. There are no payments, subscriptions, ads or marketing emails during the preview. The service is funded and hosted by its operator.
Do I need Telegram to use it?
No. Windows, Android and the web app work on their own. The bot @IllusedBot only delivers the Mini App, installers and connection files.
Can the operator read my chats?
Message text, captions, replies and files are sealed on your device before upload. The relay stores ciphertext, public keys and delivery metadata — who talked, when, how large, from which IP. It cannot turn that into readable messages without your keys. Notices from the host are explicitly not end-to-end encrypted.
What happens if I lose my key?
Your password cannot recreate it. Restore the .illusionkey backup or use a device that still has the key. Account recovery — a device-key challenge or a linked Gmail code — resets the password, but never restores missing history.
Which devices are supported?
Windows 10/11 with .NET Framework 4.8, Android 6.0+, any modern browser, and Telegram through the Mini App. The Windows app is portable and unsigned; the Android preview APK uses a debug key.
Can I edit or unsend messages?
No. Messages can't be edited or unsent. Disappearing timers remove content after their deadline, and View once removes it after the first open — but copies already made can't be recalled.
Is Illusion open source?
The source is public at github.com/IllusionaryTen/illusion. Administrative and moderation tooling is not published, and the hosted service keeps its own secrets.
How do I report someone?
Right-click an incoming message to report it, or use Profile / Timer to report or block. Reports go to a manual review queue, and blocking stops new messages in both directions.
Your next conversation could be private.
Open the web app, or take the portable build with you.