# Chatstead

> Private team chat on your own server — messages arrive even when closed.

Canonical page: [https://chrome-stats.com/d/com.chatstead.app](https://chrome-stats.com/d/com.chatstead.app)

## Overview

- **ID:** `com.chatstead.app`
- **Platform:** Android
- **Type:** Android app
- **Status:** Available
- **Publisher:** D-Wall IT SOLUTIONS LTD
- **Category:** COMMUNICATION
- **Downloads:** 2
- **Version:** 1.1.0
- **Last updated:** 2026-09-02
- **First published:** 2026-09-02
- **Publisher country:** GB
- **Size:** 8.10 MB
- **Data as of:** 2026-10-22
- **Store listing:** [Google Play Store](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chatstead.app)
- **Website:** [https://chatstead.com](https://chatstead.com/)
- **Privacy policy:** [https://chatstead.com/privacy](https://chatstead.com/privacy)

## Description

Chatstead is a team chat app for people who run their own server.<br><br>There is no Chatstead cloud. You point the app at your own installation — a company VPS, an on-premise machine, or a server on your internal network — and everything stays there. Your messages, files and accounts never pass through us, because there is nowhere for them to pass through.<br><br>MESSAGES ARRIVE WHEN THE APP IS CLOSED<br><br>Most chat apps rely on Google&#39;s push service to wake up. Chatstead does not use any push service at all — it keeps its own connection to your server, so a message arrives even after you swipe the app away, and tapping the notification opens the right conversation. Nothing is relayed through a third party.<br><br>WHAT IT DOES<br><br>• One-to-one and group chats, in real time<br>• Typing indicators, online presence and read receipts<br>• Photos and files, with a proper download into your Downloads folder<br>• Voice messages<br>• Emoji reactions, reply, forward, edit and delete<br>• Search across your conversations<br>• Voice and video calls<br>• Light and dark themes, three accent colours<br>• English and Turkish<br><br>YOU NEED A SERVER<br><br>This app on its own does nothing. It asks for a server address when you sign in, and that server has to be a Chatstead installation. If your company already runs one, ask your administrator for the address and your account. If you want to run one yourself, Chatstead installs on a fresh Ubuntu server with a single command — see chatstead.com.<br><br>WANT TO LOOK AROUND FIRST?<br><br>Sign in against our public demo server to see how it works:<br><br>Server: https://demo.chatstead.com<br>Username: demo<br>Password: Chatstead2026<br><br>The demo resets every hour, so please don&#39;t keep anything there.<br><br>BATTERY<br><br>To deliver messages while it is closed, Chatstead keeps a connection open in the background and shows a quiet, permanent notification saying so — that notification is Android telling you the truth about what the app is doing. On some phones the system still stops background apps to save power; if messages start arriving late, the app will point you at the setting that fixes it.<br><br>PRIVACY<br><br>We collect nothing. We operate no servers that your data touches. What the app sends, it sends to the address you typed in, over an encrypted connection.

## Rankings

- #3,316,550 — Overall

## Permissions and access

### Permissions

- `android.permission.CAMERA`
- `android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE`
- `android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNC`
- `android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_SPECIAL_USE`
- `android.permission.INTERNET`
- `android.permission.MODIFY_AUDIO_SETTINGS`
- `android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS`
- `android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED`
- `android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO`
- `android.permission.WAKE_LOCK`
- `com.android.vending.CHECK_LICENSE`
- `com.chatstead.app.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION`

## Similar extensions and apps

- [Digitalgrub Chat](https://chrome-stats.com/d/com.digitalgrub.chat) — 2 users
- [PVT CHAT](https://chrome-stats.com/d/com.pvtchat365.app) — 57 users
- [BSChat](https://chrome-stats.com/d/be.bsafegroup.chat) — 16 users
- [LayChat](https://chrome-stats.com/d/com.layoutinc.laychatapp) — 3 users
- [Convay Chat](https://chrome-stats.com/d/org.synesisit.convaychat) — 346 users
- [PlainTextChat](https://chrome-stats.com/d/com.plaintextchat.app) — 12 users
- [APChat - Secure Team Messenger](https://chrome-stats.com/d/com.adminpchat.app) — 71 users
- [Chatbox](https://chrome-stats.com/d/com.zarsolutions.chatbox) — 34 users
- [ZWEIG Chat](https://chrome-stats.com/d/ru.nebenan.app) — 23 users
- [dsp-chat](https://chrome-stats.com/d/com.dspchat.app) — 53 users
- [Chateam](https://chrome-stats.com/d/ws.chateam.chateam_app) — 98 users
- [BonChat](https://chrome-stats.com/d/com.cipherchat.bonchat) — 3,130,412 users, 4.74 / 5

---

Source: [Chrome-Stats](https://chrome-stats.com/d/com.chatstead.app)