Product guide
How Ayy works
A plain guide to Nearby, public ayys, private replies and the choices around them.
Getting started
Ayy is a social application for adults 18 and over. It is built for shared places: cafés, bars, campuses, conferences, festivals, airports and queues. You need an account and a compatible phone.
Nearby is not always on. You start a session deliberately, and you can end it whenever you like. A saved preference does not mean the radio is active. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capability vary by device and by what the operating system permits.
Opening the app does not mean you are broadcasting, and it does not make your profile discoverable.
Nearby participation
Nearby is the local part of Ayy. It lets you see public ayys from eligible people around you, send your own, and reply privately. There is no public web directory and no precise location history.
Nearby has a saved Nearby off choice plus two ways to participate while a session is running:
Broadcasts only
Your profile is not listed for browsing. You can send public ayys and reply privately. Every public ayy still includes your saved profile and persistent public identity.
Show my profile nearby
Your saved alias and introduction can be discovered by eligible people nearby during an active session. Discovery requires both the Show my profile nearby toggle in Account & Safety and the Open to chat mode in Nearby & visibility. Someone can then approach you directly.
Broadcasts only is not anonymous publishing. The profile attached to an ayy can be recognised across sessions for the same account and installation, even though the ayy itself expires. Nearby off stops scanning, broadcasting and nearby replies until you choose another mode.
Public ayys
Tap Say ayy, write a short message and send it. A public ayy reaches people nearby who have Ayy open. It is not a private message, a venue-wide group chat or a global post.
Under the current free publication policy, an ayy lasts five minutes from admission. It cannot be edited or recalled. It may reach additional eligible people nearby while it is live. Delivery to everyone is not guaranteed.
Each account can have one public ayy active at a time. Several people can reply to the same ayy, and each reply starts a separate private conversation. The ayy does not become a public comment thread.
Public ayys are carried between nearby phones. They are not posted to the Internet Relay. The Relay is used for eligible private chats.
Replying privately
Choose Reply privately, write an introduction and send it. That creates one private chat between you and the author. Other people who reply to the same ayy get their own separate conversations; they do not see each other’s messages.
A successful reply opens one private chat in your Chats immediately, even while the first message is Queued or Securing. It appears in the author’s Chats once it reaches their device; until then it may stay Queued. That is not a delivery receipt. The author can then choose whether to continue the conversation. You do not need to exchange phone numbers.
Optional profile discovery
Profile discovery is a separate choice from broadcasting. With Show my profile nearby enabled and Nearby running in Open to chat, eligible people can discover your saved alias and introduction and start a direct approach. You can then choose whether to respond.
With Broadcasts only, your profile is not independently browsable. Your public ayys still attach your saved profile, and people can still reply to those ayys.
A nearby profile is not a public web profile and is not proof of identity. It is a session-based disclosure to eligible nearby devices. Someone can copy or screenshot what they see.
Chats and continuity
A private reply appears in Chats as a private conversation. You can keep talking there after the original public ayy has expired.
Eligible established conversations can continue when the two of you are apart, using an available authorised local or Internet route. Ayy attempts this automatically; continuity is not a separate public feed.
Delivery, background operation, notification timing and exact proximity are not guaranteed. A notification or wake is not a read receipt. Ayy is not an emergency service.
Privacy and safety basics
Public ayys can be seen by people nearby and can be copied. Private chats are separate. Reports, selected report evidence and the in-app Support & Safety Inbox are staff-readable safety information; ordinary private chat is not the same channel.
Local private text is authenticated but is not end-to-end encrypted by default. The optional chat shield is a protection mode that both people must agree to. Internet-carried private text remains endpoint-protected.
You can block, mute or report unwanted contact. Report volume does not automatically ban a profile. Read the Safety Guide and Privacy Policy for the details.
Current availability
Ayy is live on the App Store for iPhone (version 1.0.1). On Android it is in closed testing and not yet publicly available. When Android is released, it will be announced on this site.
For support, write to support@kalaphos.com. Do not send cryptographic keys, full chat history or other secrets.
Last updated 12 November 2026.
Nearby
A deliberately started local session. It lets eligible people nearby exchange public ayys and private replies. It is not a permanent background state.
Relay
The Internet path for eligible established private conversations. It carries endpoint-protected content, not public ayys.
Shield
An optional end-to-end protection mode for one chat. It is off by default; both people must agree before it is active.