Support

How do I register?

Open Vili Chat, enter your phone number and choose how to confirm it. With Telegram, the app opens a chat with the Vili Chat bot. Check that the bot shows the same six-digit code as the app, then tap the button to share your contact. Only the contact of your own Telegram account is accepted.

Verification by text message is coming for selected countries; the app shows it when it is available for your number.

After that the app shows your recovery kit and offers a registration-lock PIN. Our directory keeps only a keyed hash of your number; see the Privacy Policy.

I don't use Telegram.

Until verification by text message is available in your country, registration needs a Telegram account for a moment: Vili Chat uses it only to confirm that the number is yours and keeps nothing from it. Write to support@vili.me to be told when SMS verification reaches your country.

What is the registration lock?

A PIN that protects your number. If someone else confirms your number, for example after a SIM swap, they still need the PIN or approval from one of your devices to take it over, and your contacts are warned of a key change. Turn it on or change it in Settings › Privacy. After five wrong PINs a registration locks, and the number pauses PIN attempts for an hour, then a day, then a week.

What is the recovery kit?

24 words, shown once when you register, that restore your identity if you lose every device. Write them down or save them to a file you keep offline, somewhere only you can reach. We never see them and cannot recover them. The app lets you skip the PIN only after you confirm that the kit is saved.

How do I add another Mac or iPhone?

Install Vili Chat on the new device and choose to link it. On a device that already has Vili Chat, open Settings › Devices › Link a New Device. Scan the code it shows with the new device, or type it in. Keep both devices near each other, ideally on the same Wi-Fi network: your account's keys travel directly between them, never through our servers.

I lost a device, or it was stolen.

On another of your devices, open Settings › Devices and remove the lost one. Removing a device secures your account: it gets a new key, so the removed device can no longer act for you, and your contacts follow the change automatically. If you set a PIN, the app asks for it. Your old recovery kit stops working; save the new 24 words the app shows.

Messages that were already on the lost device cannot be erased remotely; protect the device itself with a passcode and use Find My.

I lost every device.

Install Vili Chat on a new device and choose Restore from Recovery Kit. Enter the 24 words; your number is confirmed again, and your contacts keep you as the same person. Messages come back only from a backup you made yourself.

Without the recovery kit you start with a new identity. If you set a PIN, registering the number again needs it. If none of your devices has been active for 30 days (90 days with a PIN), the number is released and can be registered again; your contacts then see a key change.

A contact's safety code or key changed. What does it mean?

Usually that they removed one of their devices, which gives the account a new key, or that they lost every device and registered again without their recovery kit. It can also mean that someone else took over their number. Before sharing anything sensitive, compare the safety code with them in person or on another channel you trust.

Why is a message under Message Requests?

Messages from people you have not added wait as requests. Their attachments are not downloaded until you accept. You can accept, delete, block or report from the request.

Messages sometimes arrive late on my iPhone.

Vili Chat delivers directly between devices. A sleeping iPhone is woken by a notification, and iOS limits how often apps may run in the background, so delivery can wait until the sender or another member of the conversation is online again, or until you open the app. Allowing notifications helps.

How do I block someone?

Open the conversation, show its details and choose Block, or choose Block on a message request. A blocked person cannot reach you through Vili Chat. Blocking stays on your devices; our servers do not learn whom you block. You can unblock in the same place.

How do I report a message or a person?

Choose Report… on a message, on a message request or in the conversation details. Pick the messages and a reason, add a note if you like, and send. You can block the person in the same step. The report contains only what you selected, signed by your account; see the Privacy Policy.

We review reports and act on them within 24 hours, weekends included (see the Terms of Use). If you need to add something, write to abuse@vili.me and mention the report number the app showed. If someone is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first.

How do I delete my account?

Open Settings › Account › Delete Account…, read what is deleted and what is kept for a limited time, type DELETE and confirm. You need an internet connection; if our server cannot be reached, nothing is deleted and you can try again. Details are in the Privacy Policy.

If you no longer have any device, restore the account from your recovery kit on a new device and delete it there. Without the kit, the number is released once none of your devices has been active for 30 days (90 with a PIN); registering it again replaces the old account, which you can then delete. If you need help, write to support@vili.me.

What does Vili Chat know about me?

Very little: a keyed hash of your phone number, your account's and devices' public keys, the last day a device was active, and push tokens if you allow notifications. The full list, with how long each item is kept, is in the Privacy Policy.