FAQ
Is Pombo free?
Yes. Joining channels, chatting, DMs, and file sharing are free, with no ads and no premium tier. The only costs are small Polygon network fees (paid in POL, typically cents) for on-chain actions: creating a channel, or granting/revoking membership in a native channel. Regular users who never create channels pay nothing, ever.
Can Pombo (the developers) read my messages?
No — and not as a promise, but structurally. There is no server where messages pass in the clear: DMs and password channels are encrypted on your device, and the infrastructure (Streamr nodes, storage nodes) only ever handles ciphertext. Public channels are readable by everyone including us, because they're public.
What happens if pombo.cc disappears?
Your channels, messages, and identity live on the Streamr Network and Polygon — not on Pombo's website. The app is open source; any client implementing the protocol can access the same data. The interface is replaceable; your data outlives it.
Do I need a crypto wallet or tokens to use Pombo?
No. Pombo generates its own keypair for you — no MetaMask, no seed phrase ceremony, no purchase. You only need a few cents of POL if you decide to create a channel. You can also import an existing Ethereum private key if you want your established identity.
Are there group chats?
Group conversation in Pombo is a channel (public, password-protected, or membership-gated). There is no separate "group DM" primitive — a private group is a password or native channel.
Someone I banned came back with a new account. Why?
Because accounts are free and unlinked, a ban in a public or password channel can't stop a determined user — this is a structural property of permissionless systems, and Pombo is honest about it rather than pretending otherwise. If you need enforceable access control, use a native channel, where membership is an on-chain permission you can revoke.
Why do my old DMs from before July 2026 not appear?
The DM encryption path was rebuilt in July 2026 (sealed sender). Messages sent under the earlier scheme are no longer readable by current clients — a clean break made while the network was young.
Is Pombo anonymous?
Pombo is pseudonymous with strong wire privacy, not an anonymity network. Your real account is hidden from network observers, but public channel participation is publicly attributable to your account, and your IP is visible to peers like in any P2P app. For separation of contexts, use multiple accounts; for IP privacy, use a VPN or Tor. Full picture: Threat model.
How is this different from Signal? From Matrix? From Farcaster?
Briefly: Signal has stronger anonymity guarantees but runs on central servers and requires a phone number. Matrix federates servers; Pombo has no servers to federate — transport is P2P and state is on-chain. Farcaster-style social protocols are public-first; Pombo is messaging-first with E2EE DMs and encrypted channels. Pombo's particular corner is: no sign-up, no servers, creator-owned channels, sealed-sender DMs.