Build Instructions
SecureChat is currently a website and documentation project. The Android app source code will be published when Phase 1 development is complete (Q2-Q3 2026). In the meantime, you can build the Chameleon overlay encryption component from source.
Requirements
Development Environment
The following tools are required to build SecureChat and Chameleon from source.
- Android Studio — latest stable release (Hedgehog or newer)
- JDK 17 — required by the Gradle build system
- Android SDK 26+ — minimum API level (Android 8.0 Oreo)
- Gradle — bundled with the project via Gradle Wrapper
- Git — for cloning the repository
SecureChat
Clone the Repository
Note: SecureChat is currently a website + documentation project. The Android app source code will be published when Phase 1 development is complete (Q2-Q3 2026). The repository currently contains the project website, wiki, privacy policy, and technical documentation.
Chameleon
Build from Source
Chameleon is the overlay encryption component that provides an additional encryption layer for SecureChat messages. It can be built independently.
- Debug build:
./gradlew assembleDebug - Release build:
./gradlew assembleRelease(requires signing key) - Run tests:
./gradlew test - Clean build:
./gradlew clean assembleDebug
Verification
Verify Release Signatures
All release builds are signed with the project's release key. You can verify the APK signature using Android's apksigner tool.
- Compare the certificate fingerprint against the published fingerprint on GitHub
- F-Droid builds are reproducible — you can verify that F-Droid's build matches the source
- Never install APKs from untrusted sources — always verify signatures