Video calls for your desktop
Chat, play, work.
The key stays with you
Messages, audio and video are sealed on your computer. What the service keeps, it cannot open.
- Free, and no ads
- Windows 10, 11 and Linux
- Installs without administrator rights
Callifornia is a desktop app for Windows and Linux. Open this page on a computer to download it.
Features
Everything a call needs. Nothing it doesn't
Callifornia is a native desktop app built around one idea. Getting people talking should take seconds.
One link, and you are in
Every call is a link. Send it in any chat, and whoever has the app is in the call seconds later. The key that opens the room rides inside the link, in the part a browser never sends to a server, so the invitation and the permission are one and the same. Nobody waits outside for a host to let them in.
See who is around before you call
Add somebody once and call them whenever, without hunting through chats for the right link. Their status is live, so you can tell at a glance who is free and who is already in a call. And if somebody's key ever changes, their row says so, right where you were about to click.
Sealed before it leaves your computer
Messages, call audio and video, and the key to every room are locked on your side with keys the service never receives. What it holds is ciphertext it cannot open, and the privacy page says in plain words what exactly it does still know. To be certain there is nobody in the middle, read the safety numbers to each other once, and the app remembers that you did.
Every update is signed, and the installer is not yet
Updates arrive in the background and apply with one restart, and the signature on each is checked before anything is installed. The installer itself is not signed with a paid certificate yet, so on the first run Windows shows a notice about an unrecognised publisher. It says nothing about what is in the file, and two clicks are the whole of it.
Also inside
Small things that add up
Screen sharing
Share one window or the whole screen, one click from inside the call.
Chat in the call
For a link or a name that nobody wants to spell out loud. It stays with the call, sealed, and search finds it again the next time you open it.
Your calls, on every computer
Who you called, who called you and how long it lasted. Sealed before it leaves, so all of your computers show one list, and you can switch it off or clear it whenever you like.
Invites, not links
Ask a friend to join the call you are in. Their app knocks, and answering brings them over, camera and microphone set the way they want them.
A computer you let in
Signing in somewhere new opens nothing until a computer you already use reads a code off it. If there is no other computer left, a code goes to your email instead.
Nothing to sell
No ads, no trackers, no analytics SDK. Calls are never recorded, and crash reports are off until you turn them on.
Encryption
Three places, readable in two
It is sealed before it leaves you and opened after it arrives. In between, the thing that carries it is holding what it cannot read.
See you at seven
See you at seven
The key that opens it is made on your computers and stays there. The service relays and stores the middle column, and that is all it ever has.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Is Callifornia really free?
Yes. There's no subscription, no trial timer, and no features locked behind a paywall. You download it, sign in, and call people.
Which platforms are supported?
Windows 10 and 11 (64 bit), and Linux (.deb for Debian and Ubuntu, .rpm for Fedora and RHEL). The Linux build is younger than the Windows one, so it keeps a beta badge while it settles. macOS is planned, and since the app's core is already cross platform it's a matter of packaging rather than a rewrite.
Windows warned me about an unrecognized app. Why?
That's Microsoft SmartScreen being cautious about new publishers. The installer isn't signed with a paid certificate yet, so Windows shows a generic warning for it. Click "More info", then "Run anyway".
Signing is on our roadmap, and once it is in place the warning goes away.
Do I need an account?
Yes, a lightweight one. You sign up with an email address and a password, confirm the address with a code, and your username is made from that address. The username is what friends search for, and you can change it, your display name and your photo later. The address is there for password resets and for letting a new computer in, not for a mailing list.
Why does a second computer ask me for a code?
Because a password on its own cannot tell you apart from somebody who has your password. A computer this account has not used before signs in but opens nothing until one you already use reads an eight character code off it. Typing that code proves somebody is sitting at both computers. When there is no other computer left, a code goes to your email instead, the way a password reset does.
What happens if I lose my computer?
Your account comes back by email. What was said before does not, because it is locked with a key that lived on the computer you no longer have, and the service never had a copy. Resetting a forgotten password has the same effect, while changing a password you still know keeps everything, since the key was never tied to it. The table in the privacy policy lays out every case.
How do updates work?
On Windows, the app checks for new versions in the background, downloads only the files that changed, and verifies a cryptographic signature on every update before applying it, so you restart once and you're done. On Linux, updates ship through a signed APT and YUM repository instead, so the app tells you one is available and your package manager installs it (one click from inside the app if it can ask for your password, otherwise a regular apt upgrade/dnf upgrade). See what's changed in the changelog.
What data does Callifornia collect?
What you say is not part of it. Messages and call media are sealed on your computer, so the service holds ciphertext it cannot open. What it does hold is your address, your profile, who your friends are, and when and how long you called, which is metadata and worth knowing about. Calls are never recorded, and crash reports are strictly voluntary and off by default. The privacy policy spells out both halves.
Try it
Call somebody today
The download takes a minute, and the account asks for an address and a password. After that you can call people.
Download Callifornia