How To Guide

Everything you need to know to get started and make the most of MindTheClub — the privacy-first messenger where your conversations never touch a server.

Getting Started

Setting Up Your Profile

When you first open MindTheClub, you'll be taken to your profile screen. This is where you introduce yourself to your contacts.

  1. Set your name — Tap the name field and type your display name. This is how your contacts will see you.
  2. Write a bio — Add a short bio to let people know a bit about you.
  3. Choose a profile picture — Tap your profile picture area to open the image picker. Select a photo from your gallery or take a new one with your camera.

Your profile is automatically saved when you leave the screen. Any changes are broadcast to all your existing contacts so they always see your latest info.

Understanding Privacy in MindTheClub

MindTheClub is built from the ground up with privacy at its core. Your messages travel directly between devices using peer-to-peer connections — no central server ever reads, stores, or processes your message content. The only server involvement is a lightweight signalling step to help devices find each other and a push notification to wake up the recipient's phone.

Adding Contacts

Because MindTheClub doesn't store your phone number or access your address book, adding contacts works differently from traditional messaging apps. There are three ways to connect with someone.

Method 1 — QR Code (In Person)

The fastest way to add someone standing right next to you.

  1. Open your Profile screen (tap the profile icon in the top-right of the contact list).
  2. Tap Show QR Code in the bottom navigation bar.
  3. Ask your friend to open MindTheClub, go to their Profile, and tap Scan QR Code.
  4. They point their camera at your QR code — the app recognises it automatically and sends a contact request.
  5. You'll see the request appear in your New Contact Requests screen (the person icon with a badge in the top toolbar). Tap it to review and accept.

Method 2 — Share Your Profile Link

Perfect for adding someone remotely — over another messaging app, email, or social media.

  1. Open your Profile screen.
  2. Tap the share button (floating action button at the bottom-right).
  3. Choose any app to share through — WhatsApp, Telegram, email, or anything else on your device.
  4. Your friend receives your MindTheClub profile card. When they tap it, MindTheClub opens and prompts them to send you a contact request.

Method 3 — Scan a Shared QR Code Image

If someone sends you their MindTheClub QR code as a picture through any app:

  1. Share the image to MindTheClub using your device's share sheet.
  2. MindTheClub automatically detects the embedded profile data and prompts you to add them as a contact.

Accepting Contact Requests

When someone sends you a contact request:

  1. A badge appears on the New Contact Requests icon in the toolbar. You'll also receive a notification.
  2. Tap the icon to see pending requests, showing each person's name, bio, and profile picture.
  3. Tap Accept to add them, or Reject to decline.

Once you accept, MindTheClub automatically exchanges profiles and establishes a secure peer-to-peer connection. Requests from users you have blocked are automatically hidden.

Messaging

Sending a Text Message

  1. Tap a contact in your contact list to open the chat.
  2. Type your message in the text field at the bottom.
  3. Tap the send button (appears when you start typing).

Sending Images

  1. In a chat, tap the attach button (paperclip icon) to reveal the attachment toolbar.
  2. Tap Image to open the image picker.
  3. Choose from your Gallery or switch to the Camera tab to take a new photo.
  4. You can select multiple images at once — the app supports sending them as a batch.
  5. Add an optional caption before sending.
  6. Tap Send.
If you type a message before attaching images, that text is automatically carried over as the image caption.

Taking and Sending a Photo Directly

Tap the camera icon next to the text field to jump straight into the in-chat camera. Snap a photo and send it immediately.

Sending Videos

  1. Tap the attach button, then Video.
  2. Select a video from your gallery or record a new one.
  3. Add an optional caption and tap Send.

Sending Voice Messages

MindTheClub supports voice messages with an intuitive press-and-hold interface:

  1. Press and hold the microphone icon to start recording. A timer shows the duration.
  2. Release to send the voice message immediately.
  3. Slide up while holding to lock the recording — you can then stop and review before sending.
  4. Slide left while holding to cancel the recording.

When locked, you'll see a stop button (to finish recording) and a send button (to dispatch the message).

Sending Files

  1. Tap the attach button, then File.
  2. Browse and select any file — PDFs, documents, spreadsheets, archives, or anything else.
  3. The app shows the file name, extension, and size for confirmation.
  4. Add an optional caption and tap Send.
Files larger than 50 MB cannot be sent in group chats.

Sending GIFs and Stickers

You can paste GIFs and stickers directly into the chat from your keyboard or clipboard. The app automatically detects the content type and handles it appropriately.

When you type or paste a URL into the message field:

  1. MindTheClub automatically detects the link and fetches a rich preview showing the page title, description, and thumbnail.
  2. The preview appears above the text field. You can dismiss it if you prefer to send the link as plain text.
  3. Tap Send to share the link along with its preview.

Sharing Contacts

You can share a MindTheClub contact with another person:

  1. Tap the attach button, then Contact.
  2. Select the contact(s) you want to share.
  3. The recipient will see the shared contact card with options to view the profile or add them as a new contact directly from the chat.

Chat Features

Replying to a Message

There are two ways to reply:

  1. Swipe right on any message to trigger a reply.
  2. Long-press a message, then tap Reply from the action menu.

The original message appears as a preview above the text field. Type your reply and send. In the chat, replies show a linked preview of the original message — tap it to scroll to it.

Forwarding Messages

  1. Long-press a message and tap Forward.
  2. Select up to 3 contacts or groups to forward to.
  3. Tap Send.

Forwarding works for all message types: text, images, videos, voice messages, files, web links, GIFs, and multi-image batches.

Copy, Delete & Share

Copy: Long-press a text or web link message, then tap Copy to copy the text content to your clipboard.

Delete: Long-press one or more messages to select them, then tap the Delete icon in the toolbar. You can select multiple messages for bulk deletion.

Share: Long-press a message and tap Share to send it to any app on your device using the system share sheet. Works with text, images, videos, audio, GIFs, files, and web links.

Emoji Reactions

React to any incoming message with an emoji:

  1. Long-press a message. A reaction bar appears with quick-pick emojis.
  2. Tap one of the quick emojis, or tap + to open the full emoji picker and choose any emoji.

In-chat search: Tap the search icon in the chat toolbar. Type a keyword to filter messages in the current conversation.

Global search: From the contact list screen, tap the search icon in the top toolbar. Search across all contacts and conversations.

Date Navigator

In a chat, tap the calendar icon in the toolbar to open the date navigator — a floating panel listing all dates with messages. Tap any date to jump directly to that day's messages. The navigator is draggable, so you can reposition it anywhere on screen.

Delivery Status

Messages show delivery indicators so you know their status:

  1. Pending — The message is queued and waiting to be delivered.
  2. Sent — The message has been dispatched.
  3. Delivered — The recipient's device has received the message.
  4. Seen — The recipient has opened the chat and viewed the message.

Typing Indicators

When your contact is typing, you'll see a typing indicator at the bottom of the chat. This works in both one-on-one and group conversations.

Sharing Content to MindTheClub

You can share content from any app on your device directly into MindTheClub:

  1. In any app, tap Share and select MindTheClub.
  2. Choose the contact(s) you want to send to.
  3. The content is sent directly.

Supported types: text, web links, images, videos, audio files, GIFs, and general files.

Voice & Video Calls

Making a Call

  1. Open a chat with the contact you want to call.
  2. Tap the phone icon for an audio call or the video icon for a video call in the top toolbar.
  3. The recipient sees an incoming call screen with your name and profile picture.

During an Audio Call

  1. Speaker toggle — Switch between earpiece and loudspeaker.
  2. Hold — Put the call on hold.
  3. Picture-in-Picture — Minimise to a small floating window so you can use other apps.
  4. Hang up — End the call.

During a Video Call

  1. Camera toggle — Switch between front and back cameras.
  2. Mute / Unmute — Toggle your microphone.
  3. Speaker toggle — Switch audio output.
  4. Picture-in-Picture — Minimise to a floating window.
  5. Hang up — End the call.

Receiving a Call

When someone calls you, a full-screen incoming call screen appears with their name and picture. You can Accept or Decline. Calls time out after approximately 50 seconds if not answered.

Voice and video calls are available for one-on-one conversations only.

Group Chats

Creating a Group

  1. From the contact list, long-press on contacts to select them (minimum 2, maximum 62 others plus yourself).
  2. Tap the group icon that appears.
  3. Enter a group name in the dialog.
  4. Tap Create. All selected members are notified.

Group Chat Features

Group chats support the same messaging capabilities as one-on-one chats: text, images, videos, voice messages, files, web links, GIFs, stickers, emoji reactions, replies, forwarding, and search. Each sender's name is displayed above their messages.

Message Info: For messages you send in a group, long-press your own message and tap Info to see per-member delivery status (sent, delivered, or seen).

Request Contact: When you receive a message from someone in a group who isn't in your contacts, long-press their message and tap Request Contact to send them a contact request.

Managing a Group (Admin)

If you created the group, you're the admin. Tap the group name or picture at the top of the chat to access the group info screen:

  1. Change group name — Tap the name field, type the new name, and press Done.
  2. Change group picture — Tap the camera icon on the group picture to select a new image.
  3. Add members — Tap Add Member to invite contacts.
  4. Remove members — Long-press to select members, then tap Remove Member.
  5. Delete group — Permanently remove the group for all members.

Leaving a Group

Non-admin members can leave at any time:

  1. Tap the group name or picture to open group info.
  2. Tap Leave Group.
  3. Confirm. You'll no longer receive new messages, but your existing messages remain on other members' devices.

Contact Management

Viewing a Contact's Profile

Tap a contact's profile picture in the chat header to see their name, bio, and full-size profile picture. Tap the picture to open it in a zoomable full-screen viewer — pinch to zoom, and tap to toggle the toolbar.

Blocking a Contact

  1. Open the contact's profile (from chat or contact list).
  2. Tap Block in the bottom navigation.
  3. Confirm the action.

Blocked contacts cannot send you messages or contact requests.

Unblocking a Contact

  1. Open My Profile → tap Blocked Users in the bottom navigation bar.
  2. Tap any blocked user to unblock them.

Deleting a Contact

  1. Open the contact's profile.
  2. Tap Delete in the bottom navigation.
  3. Confirm. The contact and their messages are removed from your device.

Cancelling a Pending Request

If you've sent a contact request that hasn't been accepted yet, the contact appears with a "Pending" status. Open their profile and tap Remove Pending to cancel the outgoing request.

Backup & Restore

Creating a Backup

  1. Open My Profile → tap the three-dot menu → Backup & Restore.
  2. Tap Backup.
  3. Choose where to save the .mtcbackup file (device storage, Google Drive, etc.).
  4. Set and confirm a password — your backup is encrypted with AES-256-GCM.
  5. Optionally check Include messages to back up your full message history (contacts are always included).
  6. Wait for the backup to complete.

Restoring from a Backup

  1. Open Backup & Restore.
  2. Tap Restore.
  3. Select your .mtcbackup file.
  4. Enter the password you set during backup.
  5. Wait for restoration to complete. The app re-syncs your connection credentials automatically.

Auto Backup

Toggle Auto Backup on the Backup & Restore screen to include your app data in your device's regular Android backups.

Tips for the Best Experience

Keep the App Running

MindTheClub uses direct device-to-device connections to deliver messages. For the most reliable experience:

  1. Don't force-close the app — Let it run in the background so it can receive messages and calls.
  2. Disable battery optimisation for MindTheClub in your device settings. Some manufacturers (Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, etc.) aggressively kill background apps, which can delay message delivery.
  3. After a phone restart, open MindTheClub once to ensure its background service restarts.

Notifications

Make sure notifications are enabled for MindTheClub in your device settings. The app uses notifications to alert you about new messages, incoming calls, and contact requests.

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