PeerDrop
Secure P2P File Sharing & Chat
Free · In-App Purchases
Share files, chat, and call — directly between devices, no cloud needed.
PeerDrop lets you share files, chat, and make voice calls directly between devices on your local network — no internet, no cloud, no accounts required.
KEY FEATURES
- Direct File Transfer: Send photos, videos, documents, and any file type directly to nearby devices. Files are chunked and verified with SHA-256 hashes for integrity.
- Encrypted Chat: Send text messages, photos, videos, and voice messages with end-to-end encryption. All chat history is stored locally and encrypted with AES-256-GCM.
- Voice Calls: Make crystal-clear voice calls using WebRTC, fully integrated with iOS CallKit for a native calling experience.
- Device Discovery: Automatically find nearby devices on your Wi-Fi network using Bonjour. Or connect manually by IP address.
- Multi-Connection: Connect to up to 5 devices simultaneously. Each connection has independent chat, file transfer, and voice call capabilities.
- Device Library: Save frequently connected devices for quick reconnection. Organize them into groups.
- Privacy First: No servers, no accounts, no tracking. Everything stays between your devices. All connections use TLS encryption with trust-on-first-use verification.
HOW IT WORKS
1. Open PeerDrop on two devices connected to the same Wi-Fi network
2. Devices discover each other automatically
3. Tap to connect — the receiving device approves the connection
4. Start sharing files, chatting, or making voice calls
SECURITY
- TLS-encrypted connections with ephemeral P-256 key pairs
- AES-256-GCM encryption for stored chat data
- Certificate fingerprint verification (trust-on-first-use)
- SHA-256 file integrity verification
- No data ever leaves your local network
more PeerDrop 5.6.0 — your pet, now in your language, plus security & reliability hardening.
Localized pet labels: your companion's species, food, mood, and life stage now appear in your device language (English, 日本語, 한국어, 简体中文, 繁體中文). Previously these read in Chinese for everyone.
Under the hood: hardened how encrypted messages are handled — a malformed packet can no longer disrupt a session — and shipped builds no longer embed a relay-server key. Nothing to configure; it just works.
Compatibility: 5.6.0 connects to earlier v5 peers exactly as before. The on-wire protocol is unchanged.
5.6.0 11 Jul
PeerDrop 5.3 — Push notifications are working again, and connecting to the relay server is now hardened.
Push notifications: v5.0–v5.2 shipped with the iOS push entitlement missing. The app registered for remote notifications and iOS silently rejected it, so background invites from your peers never reached you. Fixed in this release. If you accepted notification permission on a prior version, the next launch will pick up the registration automatically.
Better relay-server authentication: previously every install of PeerDrop carried the same shared API key inside the app, which would let anyone who unpacked the .ipa hit the relay server on your behalf. v5.3 uses Apple's App Attest framework instead — your device cryptographically proves it's a legitimate iOS install before the server hands out tokens. The proof key lives in the Secure Enclave and never leaves your device. There's nothing to configure; it just works in the background.
Polish:
- The "first time meeting this peer" pairing sheet from v5.2 now handles concurrent connections cleanly instead of queueing one silently behind the other.
- The sort menu in the "Nearby" tab no longer flickers a stray empty icon on the non-selected options.
Compatibility: v5.3 still talks to v5.0–v5.2 peers exactly as before. The on-wire protocol version is unchanged.
5.5.2 22 Jun
PeerDrop 5.3 — Push notifications are working again, and connecting to the relay server is now hardened.
Push notifications: v5.0–v5.2 shipped with the iOS push entitlement missing. The app registered for remote notifications and iOS silently rejected it, so background invites from your peers never reached you. Fixed in this release. If you accepted notification permission on a prior version, the next launch will pick up the registration automatically.
Better relay-server authentication: previously every install of PeerDrop carried the same shared API key inside the app, which would let anyone who unpacked the .ipa hit the relay server on your behalf. v5.3 uses Apple's App Attest framework instead — your device cryptographically proves it's a legitimate iOS install before the server hands out tokens. The proof key lives in the Secure Enclave and never leaves your device. There's nothing to configure; it just works in the background.
Polish:
- The "first time meeting this peer" pairing sheet from v5.2 now handles concurrent connections cleanly instead of queueing one silently behind the other.
- The sort menu in the "Nearby" tab no longer flickers a stray empty icon on the non-selected options.
Compatibility: v5.3 still talks to v5.0–v5.2 peers exactly as before. The on-wire protocol version is unchanged.
5.5.1 19 Jun
PeerDrop 5.3 — Push notifications are working again, and connecting to the relay server is now hardened.
Push notifications: v5.0–v5.2 shipped with the iOS push entitlement missing. The app registered for remote notifications and iOS silently rejected it, so background invites from your peers never reached you. Fixed in this release. If you accepted notification permission on a prior version, the next launch will pick up the registration automatically.
Better relay-server authentication: previously every install of PeerDrop carried the same shared API key inside the app, which would let anyone who unpacked the .ipa hit the relay server on your behalf. v5.3 uses Apple's App Attest framework instead — your device cryptographically proves it's a legitimate iOS install before the server hands out tokens. The proof key lives in the Secure Enclave and never leaves your device. There's nothing to configure; it just works in the background.
Polish:
- The "first time meeting this peer" pairing sheet from v5.2 now handles concurrent connections cleanly instead of queueing one silently behind the other.
- The sort menu in the "Nearby" tab no longer flickers a stray empty icon on the non-selected options.
Compatibility: v5.3 still talks to v5.0–v5.2 peers exactly as before. The on-wire protocol version is unchanged.
5.5.0 16 Jun
PeerDrop 5.3 — Push notifications are working again, and connecting to the relay server is now hardened.
Push notifications: v5.0–v5.2 shipped with the iOS push entitlement missing. The app registered for remote notifications and iOS silently rejected it, so background invites from your peers never reached you. Fixed in this release. If you accepted notification permission on a prior version, the next launch will pick up the registration automatically.
Better relay-server authentication: previously every install of PeerDrop carried the same shared API key inside the app, which would let anyone who unpacked the .ipa hit the relay server on your behalf. v5.3 uses Apple's App Attest framework instead — your device cryptographically proves it's a legitimate iOS install before the server hands out tokens. The proof key lives in the Secure Enclave and never leaves your device. There's nothing to configure; it just works in the background.
Polish:
- The "first time meeting this peer" pairing sheet from v5.2 now handles concurrent connections cleanly instead of queueing one silently behind the other.
- The sort menu in the "Nearby" tab no longer flickers a stray empty icon on the non-selected options.
Compatibility: v5.3 still talks to v5.0–v5.2 peers exactly as before. The on-wire protocol version is unchanged.
5.4.0 29 May
PeerDrop 5.3 — Push notifications are working again, and connecting to the relay server is now hardened.
Push notifications: v5.0–v5.2 shipped with the iOS push entitlement missing. The app registered for remote notifications and iOS silently rejected it, so background invites from your peers never reached you. Fixed in this release. If you accepted notification permission on a prior version, the next launch will pick up the registration automatically.
Better relay-server authentication: previously every install of PeerDrop carried the same shared API key inside the app, which would let anyone who unpacked the .ipa hit the relay server on your behalf. v5.3 uses Apple's App Attest framework instead — your device cryptographically proves it's a legitimate iOS install before the server hands out tokens. The proof key lives in the Secure Enclave and never leaves your device. There's nothing to configure; it just works in the background.
Polish:
- The "first time meeting this peer" pairing sheet from v5.2 now handles concurrent connections cleanly instead of queueing one silently behind the other.
- The sort menu in the "Nearby" tab no longer flickers a stray empty icon on the non-selected options.
Compatibility: v5.3 still talks to v5.0–v5.2 peers exactly as before. The on-wire protocol version is unchanged.
5.3.6 22 May
PeerDrop 5.3 — Push notifications are working again, and connecting to the relay server is now hardened.
Push notifications: v5.0–v5.2 shipped with the iOS push entitlement missing. The app registered for remote notifications and iOS silently rejected it, so background invites from your peers never reached you. Fixed in this release. If you accepted notification permission on a prior version, the next launch will pick up the registration automatically.
Better relay-server authentication: previously every install of PeerDrop carried the same shared API key inside the app, which would let anyone who unpacked the .ipa hit the relay server on your behalf. v5.3 uses Apple's App Attest framework instead — your device cryptographically proves it's a legitimate iOS install before the server hands out tokens. The proof key lives in the Secure Enclave and never leaves your device. There's nothing to configure; it just works in the background.
Polish:
- The "first time meeting this peer" pairing sheet from v5.2 now handles concurrent connections cleanly instead of queueing one silently behind the other.
- The sort menu in the "Nearby" tab no longer flickers a stray empty icon on the non-selected options.
Compatibility: v5.3 still talks to v5.0–v5.2 peers exactly as before. The on-wire protocol version is unchanged.
5.3.5 20 May
PeerDrop 5.3 — Push notifications are working again, and connecting to the relay server is now hardened.
Push notifications: v5.0–v5.2 shipped with the iOS push entitlement missing. The app registered for remote notifications and iOS silently rejected it, so background invites from your peers never reached you. Fixed in this release. If you accepted notification permission on a prior version, the next launch will pick up the registration automatically.
Better relay-server authentication: previously every install of PeerDrop carried the same shared API key inside the app, which would let anyone who unpacked the .ipa hit the relay server on your behalf. v5.3 uses Apple's App Attest framework instead — your device cryptographically proves it's a legitimate iOS install before the server hands out tokens. The proof key lives in the Secure Enclave and never leaves your device. There's nothing to configure; it just works in the background.
Polish:
- The "first time meeting this peer" pairing sheet from v5.2 now handles concurrent connections cleanly instead of queueing one silently behind the other.
- The sort menu in the "Nearby" tab no longer flickers a stray empty icon on the non-selected options.
Compatibility: v5.3 still talks to v5.0–v5.2 peers exactly as before. The on-wire protocol version is unchanged.
5.3.4 19 May
PeerDrop 5.3 — Push notifications are working again, and connecting to the relay server is now hardened.
Push notifications: v5.0–v5.2 shipped with the iOS push entitlement missing. The app registered for remote notifications and iOS silently rejected it, so background invites from your peers never reached you. Fixed in this release. If you accepted notification permission on a prior version, the next launch will pick up the registration automatically.
Better relay-server authentication: previously every install of PeerDrop carried the same shared API key inside the app, which would let anyone who unpacked the .ipa hit the relay server on your behalf. v5.3 uses Apple's App Attest framework instead — your device cryptographically proves it's a legitimate iOS install before the server hands out tokens. The proof key lives in the Secure Enclave and never leaves your device. There's nothing to configure; it just works in the background.
Polish:
- The "first time meeting this peer" pairing sheet from v5.2 now handles concurrent connections cleanly instead of queueing one silently behind the other.
- The sort menu in the "Nearby" tab no longer flickers a stray empty icon on the non-selected options.
Compatibility: v5.3 still talks to v5.0–v5.2 peers exactly as before. The on-wire protocol version is unchanged.
5.3.3 17 May
PeerDrop 5.3 — Push notifications are working again, and connecting to the relay server is now hardened.
Push notifications: v5.0–v5.2 shipped with the iOS push entitlement missing. The app registered for remote notifications and iOS silently rejected it, so background invites from your peers never reached you. Fixed in this release. If you accepted notification permission on a prior version, the next launch will pick up the registration automatically.
Better relay-server authentication: previously every install of PeerDrop carried the same shared API key inside the app, which would let anyone who unpacked the .ipa hit the relay server on your behalf. v5.3 uses Apple's App Attest framework instead — your device cryptographically proves it's a legitimate iOS install before the server hands out tokens. The proof key lives in the Secure Enclave and never leaves your device. There's nothing to configure; it just works in the background.
Polish:
- The "first time meeting this peer" pairing sheet from v5.2 now handles concurrent connections cleanly instead of queueing one silently behind the other.
- The sort menu in the "Nearby" tab no longer flickers a stray empty icon on the non-selected options.
Compatibility: v5.3 still talks to v5.0–v5.2 peers exactly as before. The on-wire protocol version is unchanged.
5.3.1 14 May
PeerDrop 5.3 — Push notifications are working again, and connecting to the relay server is now hardened.
Push notifications: v5.0–v5.2 shipped with the iOS push entitlement missing. The app registered for remote notifications and iOS silently rejected it, so background invites from your peers never reached you. Fixed in this release. If you accepted notification permission on a prior version, the next launch will pick up the registration automatically.
Better relay-server authentication: previously every install of PeerDrop carried the same shared API key inside the app, which would let anyone who unpacked the .ipa hit the relay server on your behalf. v5.3 uses Apple's App Attest framework instead — your device cryptographically proves it's a legitimate iOS install before the server hands out tokens. The proof key lives in the Secure Enclave and never leaves your device. There's nothing to configure; it just works in the background.
Polish:
- The "first time meeting this peer" pairing sheet from v5.2 now handles concurrent connections cleanly instead of queueing one silently behind the other.
- The sort menu in the "Nearby" tab no longer flickers a stray empty icon on the non-selected options.
Compatibility: v5.3 still talks to v5.0–v5.2 peers exactly as before. The on-wire protocol version is unchanged.
5.3.0 13 May
PeerDrop 5.2 — Local-network connections are end-to-end encrypted, and pairing with a new device now requires explicit verification.
End-to-end encryption: When two v5.2 peers connect on the same Wi-Fi, every chat message, file transfer, and signal between them is sealed inside a Double Ratchet session (the same forward-secret crypto used by Signal). Earlier versions trusted the local network and sent data in the clear once both sides shook hands — fine for a home router, less fine on a cafe AP. That's fixed.
Explicit pairing: The first time you connect to a new device, both screens show the same 6-digit verification code. Compare the codes face-to-face (or over a trusted channel like a phone call) and tap "Accept & Trust" on both sides. Until you do, files and chat are blocked — no silent first-contact trust. If the codes don't match, tap "Reject" to block the peer.
A small lock icon next to each connected peer shows the trust state: green for matched, orange for first contact (pending your approval), red triangle if the peer's identity key changed.
Backward-compatible: connecting to a v5.0.x peer still works exactly as before. Same protocol version, same data flows.
Under the hood: pet sprite rendering is now atlas-based — bundled artwork is smaller and loads faster.
5.2.0 12 May
PeerDrop 5.0.1 — Quick follow-up to 5.0
What's new:
- Retired the Ghost species. We were never satisfied with the way it looked, and rather than ship more partial fixes, we removed it entirely.
If your pet was a Ghost:
- Don't worry — your pet is preserved. Same name, same age, same level, same memories. Only the species visual changes (now a Cat). Nothing is lost.
Behind the scenes:
- Smaller bundle, less to download.
- Migration runs silently on first launch. No action needed from you.
5.0.1 11 May
PeerDrop 5.0 — Pets Come Alive
What's new:
- Pets gained multi-frame walk animations and subtle idle breathing — they actually move now instead of sliding.
- Smoother direction changes: animation continues mid-turn instead of resetting.
- Initial coverage focuses on common species; more pets gain animations in future updates.
Bug fixes:
- Fixed a long-standing bug where pets aged into "elder" too quickly. Pets now stay adult longer; elder is reserved for genuinely long-lived pets with active engagement.
- Ghost pet redesigned with a properly ghostly look (translucent wisp form, no longer Pac-Man-shaped).
Behind the scenes:
- New sprite pipeline supports per-action frame arrays.
- All v4 features and your saved pet are preserved.
5.0.0 10 May
PeerDrop 4.0.2 — Ghost Pet Fix
What's new:
- Ghost-breed pets now display correctly with their own sprite (no longer falling back to a cat).
- New ghost-specific animations: flicker, spook, and occasional vanish + reappear elsewhere on screen.
Bug fixes:
- Fixed missing ghost asset that caused all ghost pets to render as cat-tabby.
- Wired ghost actions (flicker / spook / vanish) to opacity and scale animations so users see ghost-specific behavior.
4.0.2 8 May
PeerDrop 4.0.1 — Welcome Reveal
What's new:
- Pets now appear immediately on first launch with a welcome reveal — no more egg waiting.
- v3.x users with hatching pets: your egg has hatched! See the species name and welcome screen.
Bug fixes:
- Fixed missing pet visuals for v3.x users whose pets were still in egg stage when upgrading.
4.0.1 7 May
PeerDrop 4.0.0 — Pet Companion Reimagined
Pet System
- 33 brand-new species across cats, dogs, dragons, slimes, mythical creatures and more — each with unique sub-varieties (5 cat breeds, 5 dog breeds, 5 slime types, and so on).
- 3-stage lifecycle: baby → adult → elder. Your pet ages naturally over weeks — 8 days to adulthood, 14 days to elder.
- 6 distinct mood expressions shown as overlay icons: happy, curious, sleepy, lonely, excited, startled.
Existing Pets
- Your v3.x pet migrates automatically: new look, same identity. Name, level progress, social log, and stats are all preserved.
- The first time you open v4.0, a one-time welcome screen previews your refreshed pet.
Cross-Version Friends
- Pet meetings between v4.0 devices show the new sprites. Meetings with friends still on v3.x degrade gracefully — they receive the basic pet info their version understands.
- iCloud sync continues to work across versions; older devices on your account see your pet's last v3.x-shape state until they update.
Performance & Polish
- Sprite rendering is lazy and cached, keeping the app responsive even with the larger asset library.
- Widget and Live Activity read pre-rendered images from a shared bridge instead of re-rendering — no extra work across processes.
- 21,000 lines of legacy palette-swap rendering code retired in this release.
4.0.0 7 May
PeerDrop 3.4.0 — Security & Reliability
Security
- First-contact verification: when a peer messages you for the first time, you'll be asked to compare a fingerprint before establishing an encrypted session — preventing silent man-in-the-middle attacks.
- Decryption alerts: if PeerDrop can't decrypt three messages in a row from the same peer (usually because their identity key changed), a banner now tells you to verify their fingerprint instead of failing silently.
- Hardened the message reassembly path: caps message size at 256 MB, rejects malformed chunk indices, and detects conflicting duplicate chunks.
Reliability
- Major rework of the relay connection lifecycle. The class of bug that caused the recent v3.3.0 hotfix is now structurally impossible — the relay session enforces socket cleanup automatically, instead of relying on every code path remembering to do it.
Accessibility & polish
- Dynamic Type now scales the discovery, invite, and security UI without clipping — even at the largest accessibility text sizes.
- 55+ additional UI strings localized in 5 languages.
Battery
- Pet animation timer now pauses when the app is backgrounded.
Under the hood
- One-time pre-keys are persisted as consumed before being removed, so a crash mid-handshake can't re-expose them for replay.
- Every identity-key rotation is recorded in a per-contact audit trail.
- Pet/widget shared state now writes atomically — no more partial-state reads from the widget during a foreground update.
3.4.0 26 Apr
PeerDrop 3.3.1 — Relay Reliability Hotfix
Fixes
- Relay connections occasionally failed within seconds with a WebSocket error (-1011). Previously, any failed relay handshake left a socket lingering on the server, and two such leftovers would make the room reject all new joiners. Every failure path now properly closes its signaling connection, and the server evicts stale sockets before refusing a new peer.
- Restored the 30-second relay handshake timeout. 20 seconds was too aggressive for TURN-over-TLS on cellular or high-latency networks and caused premature failures.
Also includes the full v3.3 cross-network experience from 3.3.0.
3.3.1 24 Apr
PeerDrop 3.3.0 — Cross-Network Experience
New
- Smart suggestions adapt to your environment: invite a known device, use your tailnet, create a relay room, or try Tailscale when things keep failing.
- Tailnet peer management: add Tailscale peers once and PeerDrop probes them every 60s so they appear in Nearby automatically.
- TURN-over-TLS (port 5349) for corporate and restrictive networks where UDP is blocked.
Improvements
- Faster relay handshake with candidate pool pre-warming and phase-aware timeouts (8s direct → 20s give up).
- Adaptive ICE policy: networks that repeatedly require relay rescue now skip direct attempts automatically.
- Anonymous connection telemetry to help us ship reliable cross-network connects (no personal data, opt-out via remote config).
3.3.0 23 Apr
PeerDrop 3.2.2
Fixes
- Definitively resolved the relay -1011 WebSocket error. Reconnects now dedup by client ID, so retries evict their own stale socket instead of piling up and triggering "room is full".
- QR code and deep link now include the device's IP even when it is sharing a Personal Hotspot (bridge interface), so scanners can reach it over the hotspot without falling back to relay.
3.2.2 22 Apr
PeerDrop 3.2.1
Fixes
- Fixed relay WebSocket connection failures (NSURLErrorDomain -1011) that could leave peers unable to connect after a retry
- Signaling server now cleans up stale sockets more aggressively, preventing "Room is full" errors
3.2.1 20 Apr
PeerDrop 3.2.0
Relay Auto-Invite
- Accept relay connection invites from known devices with one tap
- Foreground banner appears instantly when a device invites you
- APNs push notifications deliver invites even when the app is backgrounded or locked
- New "Invite Device" picker on the Relay screen lets creators invite past contacts directly
Connection Reliability
- Fixed rare -1011 WebSocket handshake failures on relay connect
- WebSocket now retries automatically on transient errors
- Extended room session timeout from 5 to 10 minutes
3.2.0 17 Apr
PeerDrop 3.1.0
Species-Specific Behaviors
- Each pet species has unique physics and behavior patterns
- Cats scratch and stretch, dogs dig and wag, rabbits hop and burrow
- Birds and dragons fly, ghosts float through walls, slimes bounce and melt
- Pets spontaneously leave and return with species-specific animations
- Pets interact with chat messages (cats jump on bubbles, dogs sniff, ghosts pass through)
Relay Diagnostics
- Detailed error reporting at every relay connection failure point
- "Send Error Report" button in connection error alerts
- Error reports include full diagnostic context for remote debugging
3.1.0 15 Apr
PeerDrop 3.0 — End-to-End Encrypted Communication + Full Pet Evolution
End-to-End Encrypted Remote Communication
- Double Ratchet encryption protocol for secure cross-network messaging
- Trusted contact management: invite, accept, verify
- Encrypted sessions persist automatically across app restarts
- Security dashboard: view all encrypted connection statuses
Complete Pet System
- 10 pet body types × 2 stages × 20 animated actions
- Dedicated Pet tab: full profile, genes, personality, stats
- Food inventory: drag to feed, pet chases food
- Feed → digest → poop full lifecycle
- Personality-driven behavior: energy affects activity, mischief affects climbing
- Dynamic Island + Home Screen / Lock Screen widgets
- Daily login food refresh, earn food from peer connections
Connection Improvements
- Optimized relay connection speed
- Fixed joiner not receiving PIN verification
3.0.0 14 Apr
PeerDrop 5.6.0 — your pet, now in your language, plus security & reliability hardening.
Localized pet labels: your companion's species, food, mood, and life stage now appear in your device language (English, 日本語, 한국어, 简体中文, 繁體中文). Previously these read in Chinese for everyone.
Under the hood: hardened how encrypted messages are handled — a malformed packet can no longer disrupt a session — and shipped builds no longer embed a relay-server key. Nothing to configure; it just works.
Compatibility: 5.6.0 connects to earlier v5 peers exactly as before. The on-wire protocol is unchanged.
more Version 5.6.0 11 Jul
Data Not Collected The developer does not collect any data from this app.