FAQ

1. What’s SOMA Messenger?
2. Who is SOMA Messenger for?
3. What makes SOMA Messenger different from other messaging apps?
4. Who made SOMA Messenger?
5. Where is SOMA Messenger headquartered?
6. Will I get charged for anything? If not, how do you make a profit?
7. What is the mission behind SOMA Messenger?

1. Who can I message on SOMA Messenger?
2. How to invite a friend?
3. How to add a contact?
4. Video, contacts and location sharing
5. Back-up
6. Changing your phone number
7. Broadcast

1. How secure is SOMA Messenger?
2. Why should I trust you with my data?
3. How do you encrypt data?
4. How to hide "last seen"?
5. How to hide "read status"?

1. I didn’t receive my verification code
2. How to Delete my account?
3. Why can’t I use voice call/video call in SOMA?

General

Q: What’s SOMA Messenger?

SOMA Messenger is the world’s fastest HD video, voice and messaging app available today. Built using proprietary distributed technology, this highly secure and encrypted service offers unlimited free, high quality voice and video calls with no buffering. It is also the only messaging app to allow group chats of up to 500 people.

SOMA stands for Simple Optimized Messaging App and was crafted in the heart of SOMA (South of Market) district of San Francisco, California.

Q: Who is SOMA Messenger for?

SOMA Messenger is for anyone who isn’t yet using a messenger or for anyone who is and cares about having seamless communication experiences of the highest quality. SOMA Messenger also caters to users who really care about the quality and privacy of their messaging service.

Q: What makes SOMA Messenger different from other messaging apps?

The HD quality, speed and encryption. SOMA Messenger provides the fastest and most satisfying user experience: our video calls have no buffering, which on other services can become frustrating when a video call stutters, stops or glitches. With our technology, you only need 3G or higher to make an HD video or HD voice call.

Our servers are distributed across the globe to ensure the best speed and user experience. Some other apps offer voice and video call functionalities, which rarely work in the mobile environment due to their centralized server infrastructures. With a network of servers placed around the world, the SOMA Messenger experience is guaranteed to be more reliable and more stable no matter where you are.

Another remarkable feature that SOMA Messenger offers is the ability to have up to 500 members in a single group chat- more than any other offering by other services. We believe this feature will be great for small businesses, local sports teams and fans, or community groups. SOMA Messenger offers the biggest group plan currently available.

Q: Who made SOMA Messenger?

SOMA Messenger is the latest communication service to come out of Instanza. Instanza was founded at Harvard University in 2011 to address the problem of communicating with people across different timezones. It was one of the first startups incubated in the Harvard Innovation Lab.

Instanza’s line of products also includes Coco, a social networking tool that allows people to meet new friends from their neighborhoods and surrounding areas. Coco is one of the most popular social communication apps on the market today.

Q: Where is SOMA Messenger headquartered?

The company moved from Cambridge, Massachusetts to San Francisco, California in 2013.

Instanza, and therefore SOMA Messenger, is headquartered in SOMA, San Francisco, with offices in Dubai and Hangzhou. We are planning our new offices in Europe and South America.

Q: Will I get charged for anything? If not, how do you make a profit?

The unlimited usage of the app for free will be supported without the use of intrusive ads. User experience is the first priority of SOMA Messenger. Certainly we have a plan to monetize and support this service, which we will announce down the road.

Q: What is the mission behind SOMA Messenger?

SOMA Messenger wants to be the best messaging service possible. We want to raise the standards of quality and privacy for video, voice and messaging while keeping it free. As people begin to use messaging services from all corners of the world, they are stuck with and have come to accept the slow, low quality services, as well as the intrusive ad experiences and the low pricing that is creeping into the industry. SOMA Messenger wants to change all that.

All the best things in life are free: love, kisses, memories, etc. We strive to make communication free and to bring people closer together.

Basics

Q: Who can I message on SOMA Messenger?

You can message anyone you have saved in your contact book on your phone and has registered a SOMA Messenger account. All of your phone contacts will be displayed in “Contacts” and all of your phone contacts that are registered on SOMA Messenger will be displayed in “Favorites”.

For contacts who have not registered SOMA Messenger, you can send them an SMS invitation through your carrier plan to invite them to join.

For iOS users, be sure to allow access to contacts in settings. Otherwise, your contact list won’t be displayed in SOMA Messenger, and you won’t be able to message anyone.

Q: How to invite a friend?

You can invite your contacts by sending them an SMS invitation or an email invitation through SOMA Messenger.

Android users:

A. To send an SMS invitation, you can invite your contacts by tapping the “Tell friends about SOMA” button found in “Favorites” and “Contacts.” Select the channel you want to send the invite through (either SMS or email), and you will be automatically directed to the default system messaging or email application.

B. Another way to send an SMS invite is by tapping on an unregistered contact profile in “Contacts.” Tapping on an unregistered contact will direct you to their contact information page. If you tap on the message icon, you will be directed to the default system messaging application. You can send them an SMS invitation from there.

iOS users:

A. To send an SMS invitation, you can invite your contacts by tapping the “Tell a Friend” button found in “Favorites” and “Contacts.” Select the channel you want to send the invite through and you will be automatically directed to the default system messaging application.

B. Another way to send an SMS invite is by tapping on a unregistered contact profile in “Contacts.” Tapping on an unregistered contact will direct you to their contact information page. If you tap on the message icon, you will be directed to the default system messaging application. You can send them an SMS invitation from there.

Q: How to add a contact?

Android users:

You can add a contact to SOMA Messenger through two methods:

A. Adding a contact to your phone contact book: When you add a contact to your phone contact book, the new contact will automatically sync with SOMA Messenger, and you can message them once you enter the app.

B. Adding a contact within SOMA Messenger: Tap on the “Add a contact” button on the top right corner in “Contacts” when you are in SOMA Messenger, and you can save a new contact to both your phone contact book and to the contacts list in SOMA Messenger.

iOS users:

You can add a contact to SOMA Messenger through two methods:

B. Adding a contact within SOMA Messenger: Tap on the “+” button on the top right corner in “Contacts” when you are in SOMA Messenger, and you can save a new contact to both your phone contact book and to the contacts list in SOMA Messenger.

Make sure you enable access to contacts in settings, otherwise your contact list will not be displayed in SOMA Messenger and you will not be able to message anyone.

Q: Video, contacts and location sharing

We are currently testing the beta versions for these features. These features will be released in the near future.

Q: Back-up

We are currently testing the beta version for this feature. The feature will be released in the near future.

Q: Changing your phone number

We are currently testing the beta version for this feature. The feature will be released in the near future.

Q: Broadcast

We are currently testing the beta version for this feature. The feature will be released in the near future.

Privacy & Security

Q: How secure is SOMA Messenger?

SOMA Messenger is as secure as Apple’s iMessage. We optimized our encryption algorithm based on iMessage and the algorithm keeps evolving. If you are technical inclined, please read further below.

Q: Why should I trust you with my data?

SOMA Messenger does not store any message data that you send, including texts, images, voice messages, on our servers, nor in any cloud.

Q: How do you encrypt data?

When a user starts a new message, the sending device generates a random 256-bit key and encrypts the message with it using AES in CBC mode. The dynamically generated public RSA 2048-bit encryption keys are then retrieved from the server to encrypt this per-message AES key. The retrieve public keys will be further verified on the sending device to prevent man-in-the-middle attack. The combination of the encrypted message and the encrypted message key is then hashed with SHA-1 to ensure the integrity of the message body. The encrypted messages are then dispatched to the push notification servers for delivery. Communication with push notification servers is encrypted using a forward-secret TLS channel.

All messages are deleted from the server after delivery. Undelivered messages will expire in 7 days and then deleted from the server. We will keep improving our encryption algorithms. If you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to drop us an email at [email protected]

Q: How to hide “last seen?”

“Last seen” is a timestamp that tells others the last time you were in SOMA. You can view someone’s “last seen” in “Favorites” and in the message page. If you don’t want others to see your “last seen” status in SOMA Messenger, you can disable the function in Settings > Account > Privacy. There are three options that you can choose from:

ⅰ. Everyone: Everyone is able to see your “last seen.”
ⅱ. My contacts: Only contacts you have saved in SOMA Messenger can see your “last seen.” If you don’t have someone in your contact list, they will not be able to see your “last seen.”
ⅲ. Nobody: Nobody can see your “last seen.”

Keep in mind if you don’t share your “last seen,” you won’t be able to see anyone else’s “last seen” either.

Q: How to hide “read status?”

“Read status” is a function that allows you to see when a message you have sent to someone else has been read by the other person. If you don’t want others to know when you have read their message, you can disable the function in Settings > Account > Privacy.

Once you turn off your “read status,” others won’t be able to see if you have read their messages. Similarly, you will not be able to see whether your contacts have read your sent messages.

Troubleshooting

Q: I didn’t receive my verification code

If you didn’t receive your verification code, you can request for another verification code. In some countries with unstable cellular networks, it might take several tries before you receive the code (this doesn’t happen often). Our support team will be monitoring verification code deliveries and routing around the clock. Once we identify an unstable network, we will provide you with alternative delivery routes if we see that the current route in a given country is not functioning properly.

Q: How to Delete my account?

You can delete your account by going to Settings > Delete My Account. To delete your account, you will need to enter your:

ⅰ. Country code
ⅱ. Phone number that you registered your SOMA Messenger account with (needs to be an exact match or you won’t be able to delete your account)

Keep in mind that once you delete your account, your account information including your message history will be deleted and cannot be retrieved. You can re-register a new SOMA account at a later time if you wish to use the same number, but information from the previous account will not be recovered.

Q: Why can’t I use voice call/video call in SOMA?

In some countries, voice call and video call features are restricted by local carriers, and we are unable to provide these services to our users. In these countries, users are unable to use voice call/video call features.

When other users place a voice call or video call through SOMA Messenger to the restricted users, a notification should appear that reads:

"The person you are trying to call has not activated their voice call service."
"The person you are trying to call has not activated their video call service."