Layergram Guide | Layergram

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Create your identity

Welcome to Layergram!

If you already know how to use a messaging app like WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, iMessage, email, or any other tool to send messages, you are already in good shape: Layergram works as an additional layer to protect what you want to communicate.

The first thing to do is create your identity. This is not a classic sign-up: you do not need to create an online account, nor enter an email address, phone number, or any personal data.

Your identity is created directly on your phone or computer and stays on your device. From there, you can start using Layergram alongside the apps you already know.

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Choose your display name

Choose the name you want your contacts to recognize you by.

It can be your real name, a nickname, or any name you prefer. Do not worry too much: you can change it later. Also, each person can save you in their contact list with whatever name they like.

Check the box to confirm that you have read and accepted the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy, then press the button to create your identity.

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Save the 24 recovery words

Layergram will show you a recovery key made up of 24 English words.

These words are very important. Write them down on paper and keep them in a safe place, away from prying eyes. You can use the same methods normally used to store crypto wallet recovery phrases.

Warning: anyone who gets hold of these 24 words could recover your identity, read received messages, and send others in your name.

You will need them if you ever want to reinstall Layergram from scratch, or use the same identity on another device. In that case, keep in mind that messages are not automatically synced across different devices.

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Confirm you have saved them

To make sure you copied the 24 words correctly, Layergram will ask you to enter one of them.

Read the requested word from your notes, type it in the indicated field and press the button to continue.

It is a small check, but it helps avoid a serious problem: losing access to your identity.

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Your identity is ready

Congratulations, you have created your Layergram identity!

From this screen you can see and change your name, your identification code, and the QR code that represents your contact.

If you meet someone in person, you can simply show them this QR code. The other person can scan it with Layergram and add you to their contacts.

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Share your contact

On your identity page you will find the buttons to copy or share your contact link.

You can send it via WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, iMessage, email, or any other app. Since it is a simple link, you can also use it more permanently: in your social media bio, your email signature, your personal website, company website, or a contact page.

If you want to share it in the physical world, you can use the QR code. It is convenient to show directly from the phone, but you can also print it on a business card, promotional material, or any document where you want to make it easy to add you on Layergram.

From the same page, you can view the 24 recovery words again if you need them. Only do this in a safe place where no one can see them.

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Add a contact

To communicate with someone via Layergram, you first need to exchange your identities.

You can send your link or show your QR code. The other person will do the same with you.

Actually, when you receive a contact link, Layergram can recognize it even if you paste it directly from the main page, the Messages page. But to start in an orderly way and better understand where your contacts are managed, this guide will use the Contacts page.

Go to the Contacts page and press Add contact.

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Import the contact

You have two options.

If you are together in person, you can scan the QR code directly from the other person's phone.

If they sent you their link via a chat, email, or another digital channel, you can copy it and paste it into Layergram using the dedicated button.

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Save the contact

After pasting the link, press Import.

Layergram will show you the contact data. Check that it is really the person you wanted to add and, if everything is correct, press Save.

From that moment the contact will be available in your list.

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Manage the contact

Tapping a saved contact will open their card.

From here you can rename them, start a conversation, delete them, or verify them.

Verification is important because it lets you check that the contact was not tampered with during the exchange. In practice, it is used to make sure nobody has put themselves 'in the middle' pretending to be the other person.

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Verify with the other person

Verification is simple.

Both of you need to open the verification procedure and compare, preferably during a phone call, the numbers and emoji you see on the screen.

If the numbers and emoji match, the contact is genuine and you can confirm it.

Between iPhone, Android, or other systems, some emoji may look slightly different. It does not matter that the image is 100% identical; what matters is that it represents the same thing — for example, grapes, a penguin, a star, or a frog.

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Go to the Messages page

Go to the Messages page where you will find all the conversations already started.

Tapping an existing chat lets you reopen it and continue writing to that contact, just like you would in a normal messaging app.

To start a new chat, you can go directly from a contact's card or use the button to write a new message from the Messages screen.

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Choose the recipient

When you start a new chat, Layergram will show you the contact list.

Find the person you want to write to and select them. The message preparation screen will open.

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Write the cover message and the secret message

With Layergram you can write two messages.

The first is the cover message: this is what will be visible in the app you use to send the text — for example WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, iMessage, email, or others.

The second is the secret message: this is the one only the recipient can read using Layergram.

For example, on WhatsApp a normal text might appear, like a work message or any sentence. But inside that text, Layergram hides the real message.

If the cover message is too short, the app will warn you and tell you how many more characters you need to add before you can send the message.

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Copy or share the message

When the cover message is long enough, you can proceed.

You can copy the text and paste it wherever you want — for example into a chat, an email, or another communication channel. Or you can use the Share button, if your device allows it.

You do not always have to use a cover message. If you want to protect the content but do not mind that Layergram use is visible, you can use link mode.

This mode is faster: you do not need to come up with a long enough cover text — instead you write only the secret message directly. The content to send will appear as a Layergram link, ready to copy or share.

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The message stays in Layergram too

After copying or sharing the message, you will also see it in your Layergram chat, already decrypted.

You can leave it there if you want to keep the conversation and find it later, just like in a normal messaging app. Or you can delete it whenever you want if you prefer not to keep it.

Before sending, you can also choose an expiry date or set automatic deletion after the recipient reads it. These options, together with any auto-delete features of the external app you are using, help you better protect the content.

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What someone sees when they view the message outside Layergram

When you send the message through another app, whoever sees it will only read the cover message.

To an ordinary person it will look like any message.

Technical analysis could detect the presence of hidden or special characters, but the secret content cannot be read without the correct keys used by Layergram.

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How the recipient reads the message

The recipient will also receive, in their messaging app, an apparently normal message.

To read the secret content, they need to copy it and paste it into the Layergram Messages screen, or share it directly with Layergram.

The app will recognize the message, decrypt it, and save it in the correct chat.

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You are done

Congratulations, you now know the main steps for using Layergram!

You have learned how to create your identity, save the recovery words, add contacts, verify them, write protected messages, and read them.

From here, using it becomes natural: you prepare the message in Layergram, send it with the app you already use every day, and the recipient reads it securely with Layergram.

Layergram also includes other advanced features and various settings that you can explore later. They are not part of this quick guide, because the goal here was simply to help you get started in the easiest way possible.