A cross-platform, privacy-first P2P messenger built with Tauri v2
I’m happy to share a major update to SecureBitChat — the project now has a full desktop application available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
This release marks an important milestone: SecureBitChat is no longer limited to a browser or PWA environment. It is now a native desktop client, built on top of Tauri v2, while keeping the same security and decentralization principles at its core.
Repository:
securebit-desktop
What is SecureBitChat?
SecureBitChat is an open-source, privacy-focused peer-to-peer messenger designed around the idea that communication should not rely on centralized servers.
Key principles of the project:
- Pure P2P communication (WebRTC-based)
- No accounts, no phone numbers, no servers
- End-to-end encrypted messaging and signaling
- Minimal metadata exposure by design
- Open source, auditable, and developer-friendly
The goal is to provide a foundation for secure communication that developers can trust, inspect, and extend.
Why a Desktop App?
Previously, SecureBitChat was available as a web application / PWA. While that worked well for prototyping and early adoption, it came with limitations:
- Restricted access to OS-level features
- Browser sandbox constraints
- Limited control over secure local storage
- Inconsistent UX across platforms
The desktop release solves these issues while keeping the advantages of web technologies.
Why Tauri v2?
The desktop client is built with Tauri v2, which brings several important advantages compared to Electron-style stacks:
- Very small binary size
- Uses the system’s native WebView (WebView2 / WebKit)
- Lower memory and CPU usage
- Rust-based backend for stronger security guarantees
- Better control over permissions and OS integration
This makes SecureBitChat lightweight, fast to start, and suitable for long-running secure sessions.
Architecture Overview
From a developer perspective, the project is structured to keep concerns clearly separated:
- UI layer: Web-based frontend (shared across platforms)
- Desktop shell: Tauri v2 (Rust backend + native APIs)
- Core logic: Shared cryptographic and networking logic reused across platforms
- Transport: WebRTC for direct peer-to-peer communication
This approach allows:
- Easier auditing of security-critical code
- Reuse of the same core across desktop, web, and future mobile clients
- Cleaner long-term maintenance
What the Desktop Version Enables
The desktop release opens the door to features that were not feasible in a browser-only setup:
- Secure local key storage
- Better control over networking and background processes
- More predictable performance
- Deeper OS integration (notifications, file system, system tray, etc.)
- A solid base for future offline / mesh-network features
This is a foundational release, not just a UI wrapper.
Current State and Roadmap
The desktop app is actively developed and intended for early adopters, contributors, and security-focused users.
Planned directions include:
- Further hardening of cryptographic flows
- Mobile clients sharing the same core
- Improved UX for key exchange and peer discovery
- Expanded documentation for contributors
- Feedback, issues, and pull requests are welcome.
Get Involved
If you’re interested in:
- decentralized systems
- secure communication
- Rust + Tauri architectures
- privacy-first application design
take a look at the repository and try the desktop build:
Top comments (0)