None declared
It depends on how you feel about tracking: Dark18 declares data used to track you. The sensitive items are location, contacts and user content. In total the label lists 7 data types; 14% of secure messengers we checked declare tracking.
Dark18 privacy in one look
- 1Collects nothing
- 2Not linked
- 3Linked
- 4Tracks you
Built only from the developer's App Store label. It describes disclosure, not tested behaviour.
Dark18's developer reports using location, contact info, contacts, user content, identifiers, diagnostics, other data to track you across other companies' apps and websites.
Did Dark18 ask for something?
Pick the permission prompt you saw. We compare it with what Dark18's developer declared.
Dark18 lists Location on its label, including for tracking. Choose While Using and turn off Precise Location if the feature works without it.
Dark18 lists User Content on its label, including for tracking. Choose Limited Access and pick only the photos you want to share.
Dark18 lists Contacts on its label, including for tracking. Limited Access shares selected contacts instead of your whole address book.
Dark18 declares data used to track you, so expect the “Allow to track?” prompt. Tap Ask App Not to Track; the app must keep working without it.
Health & Fitness is not on Dark18's label. That can be fine: data used only on your iPhone does not have to be declared. If the data would need to leave the phone for the feature to work, ask why it is missing.
A permission is what the app can reach on your iPhone; the label is what the developer says leaves it. They answer different questions.
What Dark18 collects, explained
| Data type | What it covers | Where to limit it |
|---|---|---|
| LocationSensitiveUsed to track youLinked to you | Where your phone is, either precisely (street level) or approximately (city or area). | Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services: choose Never or While Using, and turn off Precise Location if the app does not need it. |
| ContactsSensitiveUsed to track youLinked to you | The people in your address book or social graph. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Contacts: choose Limited Access to share only selected people, or None. |
| User ContentSensitiveUsed to track youLinked to you | Messages, photos, videos, audio recordings, documents and support chats you create or upload. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos: choose Limited Access or None; review Microphone and Files access too. |
| Contact InfoUsed to track youLinked to you | Your name, email address, phone number or postal address. | Use Sign in with Apple with Hide My Email where offered, and check the app's account and marketing preferences. |
| IdentifiersUsed to track youLinked to you | An account ID, screen name, customer number or a device-level ID such as the advertising identifier. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking: turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track, or tap Ask App Not to Track when prompted. |
| Other DataUsed to track youLinked to you | Any data the developer did not fit into Apple's named categories. | Read the app's privacy policy, linked from its App Store page. |
| DiagnosticsUsed to track youLinked to you | Crash logs, launch times, hang rates and energy use. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements › Share With App Developers controls what Apple passes on; the app's own crash reporting is separate. |
What Dark18's label means for you
Dark18's label has 7 types under “Data Used to Track You”, 7 types under “Data Linked to You”. A data type can appear in more than one section when it is used for different purposes — for example, identifiers used for both analytics and advertising.
Tracking is the declaration that most separates apps. It means location, contact info, contacts, user content, identifiers, diagnostics, other data from Dark18 can be combined with data from other companies to target or measure ads, or shared with data brokers. On iOS 14.5 and later, the app must ask your permission before tracking you through the advertising identifier; answering “Ask App Not to Track” blocks that identifier and tells the developer you have declined.
The items that deserve the most attention are location, contacts and user content. Location history reveals home, work and routines. Precise location deserves the most scrutiny.
Messengers see who you talk to as well as what you say. Even with end-to-end encrypted content, contact lists and metadata can be collected and linked to you. Check whether contact upload is optional, whether backups are encrypted too, and whether disappearing messages exist.
Among the 172 secure messengers in our snapshot with a label, 14% declare tracking, 54% collect data linked to you and 29% say they collect nothing. Dark18 lists 7 data types, more than the average of 2.8 for this group.
Social apps are built around identity and contacts, so data linked to you is nearly universal. Tracking and contact upload are the settings worth checking.
Settings to check for Dark18
- 1
Tracking
Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking. If “Allow Apps to Request to Track” is off, apps cannot ask, and they are told to treat you as having declined. You can also turn it off for this app alone.
- 2
Location
Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services › Dark18. Choose While Using or Never, and switch off Precise Location if a city-level answer is enough.
- 3
Photos
Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos. Limited Access lets you pick exactly which pictures the app can see; Add Photos Only lets it save without reading your library.
- 4
Contacts
Settings › Privacy & Security › Contacts. Limited Access shares only the people you select instead of your whole address book.
- 5
Microphone & camera
Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone and Camera. The orange and green dots in the status bar show when either is in use.
- 6
Sign-in
When creating an account, Sign in with Apple can give the app a relay address from Hide My Email instead of your real one.
Does Dark18 track you?
Location, contact info, contacts, user content, identifiers, diagnostics and other data. Apple defines tracking as linking data from this app with data from other companies' apps, websites or offline sources for targeted advertising or ad measurement, or sharing it with a data broker.
Lock Dark18 behind Face ID
- Find Dark18 on your Home Screen or in App Library.
- Touch and hold the icon until the quick-actions menu opens.
- Tap Require Face ID (or Require Touch ID / Require Passcode, depending on your iPhone).
- Tap Require Face ID again to confirm. Dark18 now asks for authentication every time it opens.
The lock is an iPhone feature, so it works whether or not Dark18 has a passcode of its own. It does not change what the app sends to its developer.
About Dark18
| Developer | Ana Lucila Gomez Navarro |
| App Store category | Social Networking (also Entertainment) |
| Latest version | 1.0.112, released October 2026 |
| First released | August 2025 |
| Requires | iOS 16.0 or later |
| Size | 129 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ |
| Languages | 1 (EN) |
| Bundle ID | com.dark.talky |
The current version shipped in October 2026, so the app is actively maintained and its label is likely current. Labels are updated by developers when practices change.
What the label cannot tell you
- A label is self-reported. Apple publishes the developer's answers and can reject apps that misrepresent them, but it does not independently verify what Dark18 sends.
- It does not say where data is stored, how long it is kept, whether it is encrypted, or which companies receive it. The privacy policy covers those points.
- Optional data counts: if a feature lets you add something (a profile photo, a phone number), the type is listed even if you never use the feature.
- Data handled only on your iPhone is not 'collected', so a no-collection label is compatible with an app that reads your files locally.
- Third-party sign-in, payment processors and SDKs are supposed to be included, but a label can lag behind a new version.
The question to ask Dark18's developer: Is the message content end-to-end encrypted by default, including backups?
Dark18 vs similar secure messengers
- Dark18 (this app)
- Gapp Messenger
- Diligent Messenger
- SecEMS
- Tele Messenger
- Ant Messenger
- QTel Secure
- MaxMessenger
Fewer types is not automatically safer: a cloud backup app has to collect your files to work. Compare like with like.
Look up any of our apps in seconds, or put two labels side by side.
Apps similar to Dark18
All secure messengers → Who tracks you? A–Z → Apps that collect location → Privacy label decoder →
Your Dark18 privacy checklist
Done. You have applied every control the label points to.
True or false?
- Right.Not quite.
True: it lists location, contact info, contacts, user content, identifiers, diagnostics and other data under Data Used to Track You.
- Right.Not quite.
Labels are self-reported by developers. Apple can reject or remove apps that misrepresent practices, but it does not audit each label.
- Right.Not quite.
True: Location appears on its label.
- Right.Not quite.
It is collected and sent; the developer says it is de-identified rather than tied to your account or device.
- Right.Not quite.
Apple's rules require apps to work the same whether or not you allow tracking.