This update actually wouldn’t have happened without your suggestion — you pushed me to finally implement it. Thank you!

Messages are stored on the server only until the recipient comes online. Once they connect, a 30-second timer starts — after that the message is permanently deleted from the server. There’s no copy left server-side after that point. Since private chats use E2EE, the server only ever sees ciphertext anyway. After delivery, messages exist only locally on both devices. If you want no local record either, you can delete the conversation manually from within the app.

that’s a great idea, I’ll consider adding it in one of the upcoming updates.

Just to clarify — E2EE in ONYX is only for private chats. Groups and channels (both built-in and self-hosted) don’t have E2EE, which is actually closer to your point — for groups it’s a deliberate tradeoff for simplicity and reliable sync. So you’re right, for that use case TLS is enough.