Building Verus: the choices behind it.
Private messaging and calls for iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows, with identity proven through Confrmo only when you choose to. verusapp.co.uk
Verus: private messaging, on your terms
A private messenger for the people you actually know. There is no phone number to hand over, nobody reaches you until you say yes and messages are translated on the device.
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- August 2026
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Screenshot protection designed around the owner
Verus keeps messages out of screenshots. Why I designed that protection to fall back to readable rather than hidden.
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A Verus ringtone on every platform
Why Verus calls ring with their own sound on iPhone and the Mac. Why the ringer follows the call itself.
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Choosing the moment to ask for notifications
Android asks people before an app may notify them. Why Verus waits until after registration to ask, rather than asking on first launch.
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Shipping the Verus Mac app the way a stranger's Mac expects
Why the Verus Mac download is signed, notarised and stapled for distribution. Plus the certificate choice that gives it the longest life.
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One person, one identity, on every device
How I brought Verus device linking to Android, so someone using a phone and a Mac stays one identity rather than two.
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One door for gifts and purchases
How I made Verus purchase codes work in every app already in people's hands, without shipping an app update.
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Anonymous sending that survives a week away
Verus sends messages without the server knowing who sent them. Why the apps now look after their own anonymous credentials before they lapse.
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Letting two devices agree how a call should sound
Why Verus calls negotiate their audio at the start, so Apple devices keep their best quality and calls with Android still just work.
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Keeping call audio in step between two threads
Why the Verus Android call engine guards its audio buffer. Plus the test I required to fail without the guard before accepting it.
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Measuring what the microphone hears, not what the pipeline reports
Why Verus on the Mac takes a different audio path from the iPhone, found by measuring the sound itself rather than trusting the counters.
- September 2026
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Forward secrecy from the very first message
Why Verus keeps a steady supply of single-use keys, so every new conversation starts with forward secrecy however many people you meet.
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A Verus call that reaches a sleeping phone
How Verus rings a locked, dozing Android phone without keeping the app running all the time. Tested in real conditions.
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Pairing a new device without losing a single chat
Linking a device used to start it empty. I made Verus pairing carry chats, contacts and groups across, sealed inside the pairing itself.
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Verus Relay boxes that talk to each other by radio
I brought up the LoRa radio inside two Verus Relay boxes. Each now announces its name over the air every minute, with no internet in the path.
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Verus Relay boxes that set themselves up wherever they are plugged in
More Verus Relay boxes, built from spare hardware, that configure themselves and tell the network where they are, ready to hand out.
- October 2026
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A white paper for turning idle hardware into Verus Relays
I wrote and published the Verus Relay white paper: which boxes can run a relay, how to convert one, the full specification and measured results.
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Verus for Android: one call, whichever phone is at the other end
A new Android release of Verus in which calls between Android and iPhone carry sound both ways, end cleanly for both people and can be rated afterwards.
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One source of truth for the Verus Relay map
The public Verus Relay map and the operator console now draw from the same live data and update themselves as relays come and go.
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A setup guide for people hosting a Verus Relay
A public page that takes somebody from an unopened Verus Relay box to a working relay in six steps, with no settings and no passwords.
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Verus shows what it carries, live, without showing who
The verusapp.co.uk homepage now shows a live running total of message deliveries to devices, updating as it happens, using totals only.
Institutional, investment and partnership enquiries.
Four kinds of enquiry reach Louis-James Davis at the same address. Say which one you are in the first line and it is answered faster.
- Investors What you invest in and the stage you come in at.
- Partners What you would want to build or integrate.
- Press Your outlet and your deadline in the first line.
- Working together What you have built. Working code beats a CV.