Getting Started

Installing the app

Eon Phoenix is distributed as beta builds, one set per version, with no installer on any platform — you unpack a file and run it.

The Windows build is Authenticode signed — Windows shows the publisher as Quantum Gateway Solutions B.V. SmartScreen can still ask once, because it warns about any program few people have run yet; check the publisher line before clicking through, and don’t run it if the publisher is missing or names someone else.

The macOS build is not signed yet. macOS calls an unsigned app “damaged”, which is the same word it uses for “no publisher certificate” — nothing is actually broken. Right-click the app and choose Open, twice, or clear the quarantine flag:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Eon Phoenix.app"

The Android APK is signed with a test key. A new beta installs straight over the previous one and keeps your data; if the build later moves to a real publisher key, you have to remove the app once and install it again, since Android refuses an update with a different signature — and removing it wipes the app’s data.

Building it yourself

make wails builds the main client (webview + React frontend), make gio-app the native Gio variant on macOS. A bundle you build yourself points at the OpenSSL on your machine and can’t be moved to another computer; the published builds carry the cryptography inside the binary.

Adding your first account

The first time you open Eon Phoenix, you’ll be prompted to add a mail account. You can add as many accounts as you like later from Settings → Accounts.

Google (Gmail) and Microsoft (Outlook/Office 365)

Type your email address. If it’s on gmail.com, googlemail.com, outlook.com, hotmail.com, live.com, or an Office 365 address, Eon Phoenix recognizes the provider automatically and offers sign-in with Google/Microsoft instead of asking for a password:

1. Click Sign in with Google (or Microsoft).
2. Your system’s web browser opens the provider’s normal sign-in and consent screen. Approve access.
3. Back in Eon Phoenix, click Add account — your mailbox is ready.

If you’re on a custom company domain that uses Google Workspace or Office 365 but doesn’t match one of the recognized consumer domains, use the Microsoft (OAuth) / Google (OAuth) buttons that appear next to the email field to choose the provider by hand.

Sign-in this way never hands Eon Phoenix your account password — if you ever revoke access from your Google or Microsoft account security settings, Eon Phoenix will prompt you to sign in again the next time it needs to send or check mail.

Any other IMAP/SMTP mailbox

For any other provider (a company mail server, a self-hosted domain, etc.), enter your email address and password, then click Detect servers from DNS — Eon Phoenix looks up the standard mail server records for your domain and fills in the incoming (IMAP) and outgoing (SMTP) server addresses automatically. If nothing is found, your mail provider or IT department can give you the IMAP and SMTP hostnames to enter by hand.

There’s also an optional Keyserver field for this account’s domain — leave it blank unless someone (for example, your organization’s IT team) has told you to point it at a specific address; otherwise Eon Phoenix finds it automatically when it needs to.

What happens next

Once an account is added, Eon Phoenix generates your personal encryption identity for that address automatically (you’ll see this reflected in Settings → Encryption), and starts checking your mailbox. See Encrypted mail for what that identity is used for.

Multiple accounts

Add more accounts anytime from Settings → Accounts. Each account gets its own separate encryption identity — a fingerprint you see for one address is not the same as the fingerprint for another, even if both addresses belong to you. Switching the active account in the sidebar switches which identity “Publish my keys,” “Verify email,” and the Encryption settings act on.

Backing up and moving to a new device

Your encryption identity is what makes your encrypted mail readable — losing it without a backup means losing access to messages encrypted to it. From Settings → Encryption for an account:

• Reveal recovery phrase + QR shows a 24-word phrase (and a QR code) that fully restores that account’s identity on another device. It’s shown once, hides itself automatically after 30 seconds, and should never be photographed, screenshotted, or shared with anyone — whoever has it controls that identity.
• On the new device, add the same account, then use Restore from recovery phrase / code and paste the phrase (or scan the QR elsewhere and paste the resulting code — the app itself doesn’t scan a live camera feed).
• Export account backup seals your full account list and mailbox passwords to your own identity into a single block of text, which you can paste into Import account backup on a device that already has your restored identity — bringing every account over without re-entering passwords or signing in to OAuth accounts again.

Rotating your identity (also under Settings → Encryption) throws away the old one and generates a brand new one — useful if you believe your identity may have been exposed. Contacts have to re-verify you afterward, and you need to re-publish your new key (a one-click reminder appears right after rotating). Older mail encrypted to the identity you had before your first-ever setup remains readable, since that legacy key is kept specifically for that purpose.