GistUp

How to use GistUp

Step-by-step guides for every feature in version 1.1 for Android. Nothing needs to be switched on to be private: every chat is end-to-end encrypted from the first message.

Getting started

Sign up

  1. Install GistUp and open it.
  2. Check the country next to the phone box (tap it to choose another, for example the UK or the USA), enter your phone number (Android may offer it with one tap) and type the 6-digit code we send by SMS, or tap Allow when Android offers to fill it in. Never give this code to anyone.
  3. Choose your name and a username (3 to 20 characters: letters, numbers, dots and underscores).
  4. Confirm you are 18 or over. You are in.

Start a chat

  1. In Chats, tap โ‹ฎ at the top, then New chat.
  2. Type the person's GistUp username, or their phone number if they allow people to find them by number.
  3. Tap Start chat and write your message. If you have not chatted before, it reaches them as a message request until they accept.

Invite a friend who is not on GistUp

  1. Go to Settings (or New chat) and tap ๐Ÿ“จ Invite a friend.
  2. Choose WhatsApp, SMS or any app to send your invite with your GistUp link.

Your profile

Add a profile photo

  1. Go to Settings and tap your picture.
  2. Choose a photo. It is encrypted and sent only to people you chat with.

Add your social links

  1. Go to Settings, then ๐Ÿ”— Social links.
  2. Type your username for Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube or Snapchat, or your website. You can also paste a full profile link.
  3. Tap Save. People you chat with see the icons under your name when they tap โ“˜ in your chat. Leave a box empty to remove a link.

Share your code

  1. Go to Settings and tap My code next to your name.
  2. Let someone scan the QR code with their phone camera, or tap Share my link. It shows your username, never your phone number.
  3. To scan a friend's code yourself: New chat, then ๐Ÿ“ท Scan a GistUp code.

Chatting

Send a photo, video or document

  1. In a chat, tap ๐Ÿ“Ž beside the message box.
  2. Choose Photo, Video or Document (up to 100 MB), then pick the file. It is encrypted before it leaves your phone.

Send a voice note

  1. With the message box empty, tap ๐ŸŽค and speak.
  2. Tap send to share it, or cancel to throw it away. A one-minute note uses about 180 KB.
  3. When listening, tap the speed button to play at 1x, 1.5x or 2x. GistUp remembers where you stopped.

Reply, react or forward

  1. Press and hold a message.
  2. Tap an emoji at the top to react (tap it again to take it back), Reply to quote it in your answer, or Forward to send it to up to 5 other chats. Forwarded messages are marked "Forwarded".
  3. Tap a quote in a reply to jump to the original message. Tap the emojis under a message to see who reacted.

Edit a message

  1. Within 15 minutes of sending, press and hold your message and tap Edit.
  2. Change the text and tap โœ“. Everyone in the chat sees the new text, marked "edited".

Copy a message

  1. Press and hold the message and tap Copy.

Delete a message

  1. Press and hold the message.
  2. Choose Delete for me, or Delete for everyone (within one hour of sending).

Understand the ticks

One tick: sent to GistUp. Two grey ticks: delivered to their phone. Two coloured ticks: read. If you are offline, messages wait on your phone and send by themselves when you are back.

Your chat list

Search chats and messages

  1. In Chats, tap Search chats and messages at the top.
  2. Type a name or any words. The search runs on your phone only.

Filter, pin and favourite

  1. Tap a filter under the search box: All, Unread, Groups, Communities or Favourites.
  2. To pin a chat to the top, press and hold it and choose Pin chat (up to 3).
  3. To add a favourite, press and hold a chat and choose Add to favourites. Find them under the Favourites filter.

Archive or mute a chat

  1. In Chats, press and hold a chat.
  2. Tap Archive chat to move it out of your list; find it under Archived at the top. Tap Mute for 8 hours to stop its notifications (more choices in the chat's โ“˜).

Turn on disappearing messages

  1. Open the chat and tap โ“˜, then Disappearing messages.
  2. Choose 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days. New messages then disappear from every phone in the chat after that time. Disappearing messages are never put in your backup.

Scheduled messages

  1. Type your message in a chat, group or channel.
  2. Press and hold the send button โžค (or tap ๐Ÿ“Ž, then Schedule).
  3. Pick a quick time, or a day and time up to 30 days ahead, and tap Schedule. It goes out even if your phone is off.
  4. To cancel, tap ๐Ÿ•“ scheduled message at the bottom of the chat and choose Cancel message.

Groups

Create a group

  1. In Chats, tap โ‹ฎ, then New group.
  2. Type a group name and add members by username.
  3. Tap Create group. You are its admin. The group name is encrypted too.

Manage members

  1. Open the group and tap โ“˜.
  2. Tap ๏ผ‹ Add members, or tap a member to Make group admin or Remove from group.
  3. To leave, tap Leave group.

Polls, events and pinned messages

Create a poll

  1. In a group or channel, tap ๐Ÿ“Ž, then Poll.
  2. Write the question and 2 to 10 options. Choose one answer or several, and whether names are shown.
  3. Send it. Members tap an option to vote. Votes are encrypted and counted on each phone.

Create an event

  1. In a group or channel, tap ๐Ÿ“Ž, then Event.
  2. Add a name, the day and time, and the place, then send it.
  3. Members tap Going or Not going. Going sets a reminder on their phone on the day.

Pin a message (admins)

  1. Press and hold a message and choose Pin for everyone.
  2. It shows at the top of the chat for every member. Hold the pinned bar to unpin it.

Communities

Create a community

  1. In Chats, tap โ‹ฎ, then New community (or use the Community tab).
  2. Enter the name, for example your church, school or estate, and what it is for.
  3. Tap Create community. It starts with two channels: Announcements (only admins post) and General (everyone posts).
  4. To add a channel, open the community and tap ๏ผ‹ Add channel. Press and hold a channel to change who can post.

Invite people

  1. Open the community and tap Share invite code.
  2. Send the 8-character code to people you want to join. Tap Make a new code to stop the old one working.

Join a community

  1. Go to the Community tab and tap Join with code.
  2. Type the code. If the community approves new members, you wait until an admin says yes.

For community admins

  1. Approve new members: open the community, under Admin tools turn on Approve new members, then check ๐Ÿ›‚ Join requests.
  2. Make admins or remove members: tap Members, then tap a person: Make community admin, Remove from community or Remove and block.
  3. Handle reports: tap ๐Ÿšฉ Reports to see members' reports from your channels (the reporter's name is hidden). Dismiss, remove the person, or send it to GistUp.
  4. Get a blue tick: real businesses, churches, mosques, schools, public figures and organisations can ask GistUp to verify them through the contact page.

Search and ask to join

  1. Go to the Community tab and tap Find communities and groups.
  2. Search by name, and choose a category or city if you like.
  3. Tap Ask to join. An admin sees your name and username, never your phone number. Never pay money to join.

List your community or group (admins)

  1. Open the community (or the group's โ“˜) and tap ๐Ÿ” Show in GistUp search.
  2. Turn it on, add the name shown in search, a short description, a category and a city, and tap Save.
  3. Everyone who asks to join waits for an admin's approval. Messages stay end-to-end encrypted.

Gist

Post a gist

  1. Open the Gist tab and tap +.
  2. Write up to 500 characters, add up to 4 photos with ๐Ÿ–ผ๏ธ, and choose who can reply.
  3. Tap Gist it. Everyone on GistUp can see it.

Like, comment, Regist and follow

  1. Tap ๐Ÿค to like, ๐Ÿ’ฌ to comment, or ๐Ÿ” to Regist (share it with your followers) or Quote it with your own words.
  2. Tap someone's name to see their profile, then Follow. Their gists appear in Following; Latest shows everyone's newest gists.
  3. Tap โ‹ฏ on a gist to bookmark, mute, block or report. Your bookmarks and activity are under ๐Ÿ”” at the top.

Set up your public profile

  1. Go to Settings, then Public profile.
  2. Choose a public photo (separate from your private chat photo), write a short bio, choose who can reply to your gists, and add any muted words.

Live Rooms

  1. Tap the Rooms tab and choose a room, then tap Join room. Rooms are public: don't share personal details.
  2. Type to chat, tap ๐Ÿ˜Š for emoji, ๐Ÿ“ท to share a picture (one a minute), or ๐ŸŽ to send a free gift to everyone.
  3. Tap a message to react to it or send that person a gift. Press and hold it for more, such as sending a message request or reporting it.
  4. Don't want messages from rooms? Settings, Who can find me, turn off Message requests from Live Rooms.

Privacy and safety

Verify a chat with a safety code

  1. Open the chat and tap โ“˜, then ๐Ÿ” Safety code.
  2. Compare the 60 digits with the other person, in person or on a call.
  3. If they match, tap The codes match: mark as verified. If their code changes later, GistUp tells you to check again.

Message requests

  1. In Chats, tap Message requests to see first messages from people you have not chatted with.
  2. Tap one to read it. They are not told unless you tap Accept. You can also delete, block or report.

Add a backup email

  1. Go to Settings, then Backup email.
  2. Type your email and tap Send code, then type the 6-digit code from the email.
  3. On a new phone, tap Sign in with your backup email on the first screen to get your code by email instead of SMS. Keep your email account safe.

Lock GistUp with your fingerprint

  1. Go to Settings, then App lock with fingerprint, and turn on Lock GistUp.
  2. Choose when it locks: immediately, after 1 minute or after 30 minutes away. Your face or the phone's PIN also works.

Turn on registration lock

  1. Go to Settings, then Registration lock, and tap Turn on.
  2. Choose a 6-digit PIN and type it twice. Don't use 123456 or your birthday.
  3. From now on, signing in with your number on another phone also needs this PIN, so a stolen or swapped SIM is not enough to take over your account. Forgot it? The lock stops after your account has not been used on any phone for 7 days.

Hide your online status and last seen

  1. Go to Settings, then Who can find me.
  2. Turn off Online and last seen. It is only ever shown to people you have both messaged; when it is off, you won't see theirs either.

Choose who can find you

  1. Go to Settings, then Who can find me.
  2. Anyone with your username can find you. Turn on By phone number only if you want people who know your number to find you. Your number is never shown.

Block or report

  1. Open the chat and tap โ“˜.
  2. Tap Block (they are not told) or Report. A report can include the last 5 messages so our safety team can review them.
  3. To unblock, go to Settings, Blocked accounts.

Read our safety tips to spot common scams.

Backup and moving to a new phone

Turn on backup

  1. Go to Settings, then Chat backup, and tap Turn on backup.
  2. Write down the 64-digit key on paper or save it in a password manager. Tap I have saved my backup key.
  3. Tap Back up now. After that it backs up once a day, on Wi-Fi if you choose.

Restore on a new phone

  1. Install GistUp on the new phone and sign in with the same number, or with your backup email if you added one.
  2. Tap Restore chats from backup and enter your 64-digit key.

Data and storage

  1. Data saver: Settings, Data saver. On from the start: photos are sent smaller, and media downloads on mobile data only when you tap it. You also see the data used this month.
  2. Text-only mode: in the same screen, turn on Text-only mode to hide all photos, voice notes and videos until you tap them.
  3. Storage: Settings, Storage and data. See what each chat uses, set a storage limit, or clear downloaded media. Your messages stay.

Language

  1. Go to Settings, then Language.
  2. Choose English, Nigerian Pidgin, Yorรนbรก, Hausa or Igbo. The app changes straight away.

Dark mode

  1. Go to Settings, then Appearance.
  2. Choose Dark, Light or Same as phone, then close GistUp and open it again.

Your account

  1. Notifications: Settings, Notifications. Notifications only ever say "New message".
  2. Sign out: Settings, Sign out. Your encrypted messages stay on the phone.
  3. Delete your account: Settings, Delete my account. See what is deleted.

Coming soon

Changing your phone number.

Still stuck? See the Help centre or contact us.