Tern

Tern is a messenger under 500 KB.

Most chat apps download 100–200 MB and fill your storage. Tern downloads in seconds, installs at under half a megabyte, and runs on phones and networks that other messaging apps give up on — including 2G.

No phone number. No password.
Your identity is your Tern ID. Share it with someone and start a private conversation without handing out your phone number. Nothing to remember, nothing to reset — hand out a Tern ID instead of your number or your social handle.

Built for slow connections
Text, replies, voice notes, photos and files. Media loads when you tap it, with the size shown first, so a weak connection never costs you data you didn't choose to spend.

Private by design
Messages are end-to-end encrypted. Block and report are built in. Disappearing messages when you want them.

Groups
Private group conversations with the people you choose.

Free, and never tracking you
Tern is free and may carry sponsored notices. Those notices go to everyone the same way, and we don't record who saw them. No user tracking, ever.

A tiny messenger with a huge range — the tern is the smallest bird with the longest migration of any animal.