# Linger

> Linger is a small, self-hosted place for a group of friends to hang out: text and voice rooms, DMs, shared files, and a buddy list that shows who's around. One person runs the server, and their friends join it with an invite. It is free and open source (AGPL-3.0), with no company in the middle, no paid tier and no telemetry.

The current version is 0.4.9, released October 7, 2026. The app runs on Windows, Linux and Android. There is no Mac or iPhone download yet; on a Mac, it builds from source. The server runs in Docker on an Intel or AMD (x86-64) machine: a rented server (VPS) or a computer at home.

What people often want to know:

- There is no central service and no company account. You make an account on your friend's server, with a username and a password and no email address or phone number. Each server is run by one person, the host, for people who already know each other. Servers are not federated, and there is no directory of them.
- The host can read everything on their server. There is no end-to-end encryption: traffic is encrypted on its way (TLS), but messages and files are stored unencrypted on the host's machine.
- There is no telemetry, analytics or crash reporting, not even opt-in. Location and camera data (EXIF) is stripped from every image.
- By design there are no unread counts or badges, no streaks, no @everyone, no bots, roles or threads, and no algorithmic ordering. A room with something new gets a bolder name instead.
- Voice happens in rooms and DMs, through the host's server, and is never recorded.
- The Android app is text first and raises no notifications, on purpose.
- Several servers can sit in one buddy list, each a folding section of it.

## Get it

- [Downloads for version 0.4.9](https://github.com/itsMattGuenther/Linger/releases/tag/v0.4.9): the Windows installer, Linux packages (.deb, .rpm, AppImage), and the Android APK
- [User guide](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/itsMattGuenther/Linger/main/docs/user-guide.md): installing the app, joining with an invite, and what to do when something goes wrong
- [Host guide](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/itsMattGuenther/Linger/main/docs/host-guide.md): running a server with Docker, DNS, voice, backups and updates
- [Creating your first VPS](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/itsMattGuenther/Linger/main/docs/vps-setup.md): renting a server to run Linger on

## The project

- [Source code](https://github.com/itsMattGuenther/Linger): the app, the server, the plans and every release, on GitHub
- [README](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/itsMattGuenther/Linger/main/README.md): what Linger does, what it will never have, and how to run it
- [SPEC](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/itsMattGuenther/Linger/main/SPEC.md): the full product description, including what is out of scope and why
- [Contributing](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/itsMattGuenther/Linger/main/CONTRIBUTING.md): how to help build it
- [Website](https://linger-site.netlify.app/): the page this file belongs to