FAQ
Last updated: June 10, 2026
What is Siner?
Siner is an app for creators to capture, sign, and share authentic work — built on Nostr, an open social protocol. Your identity is a key you own, your content is yours, and your tips go straight to you. There's no central account, no algorithmic feed deciding what you see, and no ads.
What does Siner stand for?
Three things: you own your identity (a key on your device, not an account we can lock); you own your content and your audience (they live on an open network, not inside our walls); and your privacy is the default (no tracking, no analytics, no data sales). Siner tries to collect as little as possible and to be honest about what's public.
What is Nostr, and why does Siner use it?
Nostr ("Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays") is an open protocol for social apps. Instead of one company's servers, your posts are signed with your key and sent to "relays" that anyone can run. Because your identity and content aren't locked to one app, you can take them with you. Siner uses Nostr so you're never dependent on us to keep your audience or your work.
What are zaps, sats, lightning, and bitcoin?
A "zap" is a tip. It's paid in "sats" (satoshis — the smallest unit of bitcoin, where 100 million sats = 1 bitcoin) over the Lightning Network, a fast, low-fee way to send bitcoin. When someone zaps your post, the sats go directly from their wallet to yours. Siner never touches the money — it just helps you send and receive tips.
Why tips in bitcoin instead of regular payments?
Lightning lets anyone, anywhere, send you a few cents instantly without an account, a card, or a middleman taking a cut — and without us holding your funds. It's peer-to-peer by design, which fits an app where you own your identity and your audience. You connect your own wallet; Siner never custodies your money.
How does account recovery work, and why can't Siner read my key?
Recovery is optional. If you turn on backup, your key is encrypted on your device with a password only you know (using strong, standard cryptography) before anything leaves your phone. We store only the scrambled result — we never receive your password, so we literally cannot unscramble it. To restore on a new device, you provide your email (to get a one-time code) and your backup password, and the decryption happens on your device. This keeps recovery convenient without making us a custodian of your key.
What if I lose my backup password?
Then no one can recover your key — not even us — because only your password can decrypt your backup. That's the trade-off of true ownership: there's no "forgot password" reset. Store your backup password somewhere safe, like a password manager.
How do I report, mute, or block someone?
Every post has a report option in its share menu, and every profile has Report, Mute, and Block in its ⋯ menu. Reporting sends a signed report for review. Muting hides someone quietly; blocking hides them and stops their messages. Mute and block are instant and private to you. See our Community Guidelines for what's not allowed and how we act on reports.
What's public, and how do my privacy controls work?
On Nostr, what you publish is public and hard to fully erase: your posts, profile, reactions, zaps, and reports are visible to anyone and can be copied by relays. Direct messages are the exception — they're end-to-end encrypted, so only you and your recipient can read them. You control extra details too: toggles in Privacy settings decide whether your location and device are attached to what you capture (both can be turned off before you capture).
Does Siner track me or show ads?
No. There are no ads, no analytics, and no third-party tracking in Siner. The app doesn't use an advertising identifier and doesn't track you across other apps or sites, and we don't sell your data. See the Privacy Policy for the specifics of what little we do process.
What is a "proof of authenticity" or Siner Seal?
When you create an autograph, Siner can attach a tamper-evident proof — a cryptographic fingerprint of the content plus context like when it was made — and optionally anchor it to the Bitcoin blockchain for an independent timestamp. It's a way to show your work is genuinely yours and unaltered. You choose how much context (like location) to include.
What happens when I delete my account?
Deleting removes your data and keys from your device, asks relays to delete your posts, and deletes the media we host for you. Because Nostr is decentralized, posts already spread to other relays may persist, and a deletion request is something other relays may not honor. It's a real delete on our side, with honest limits on the parts of the network we don't control.