Contact discovery in Dixl

Dixl uses a privacy-preserving lookup to figure out which of your phone contacts already use the app. When that lookup fails, you see a contact discovery error.

How it works

When you open Dixl, the app sends cryptographic hashes of your contacts’ numbers to a secure enclave on the server. The enclave returns which numbers are registered. Dixl never sees your raw phone numbers — the enclave processes them inside hardware-protected memory that even the server operators can’t read.

Temporary error

A temporary error usually means one of:

• the server is under heavy load,
• your device was rate-limited after too many lookups in a short time,
• your network is blocking the enclave endpoint.

Dixl retries automatically after a short cooldown. You can keep using the app — messaging anyone already in your chat list works normally.

Persistent error

If the error doesn’t clear:

1. Check your internet connection.
2. Make sure Dixl is updated to the latest version.
3. Confirm your network or firewall isn’t blocking Dixl.
4. Restart the app, then your phone.

If it still fails, contact support.

FAQ

Does Dixl upload my contacts? No raw numbers leave your device — only hashes, processed inside a secure enclave the operators can’t read.

Can I use Dixl while discovery is failing? Yes — existing chats work normally; only finding new contacts is affected.

Why does discovery get rate-limited? Too many lookups in a short time trigger a temporary limit; it clears after a cooldown.