Montana guide & FAQ

Montana combines personal chats, voice and video calls, groups, channels, walls, media, Time Coins, games and network tools. Open the app library using the grid button to find these sections. This guide covers the full Montana beta for Apple devices; Montana Business and Android have their own releases.

Open Montana on the official site's app list, choose Get, install Apple's TestFlight if requested, then accept the invitation and install Montana. For an update, open Montana in TestFlight and choose Update. Compare its build with the availability shown above. A compiled or uploaded build is not installable until Apple makes it available.

Check Montana's entry in TestFlight and the build number at the bottom of the app drawer/settings. Report the product, platform, build and OS version when asking for help. Two phones on different builds may behave differently, especially for calls and recordings.

Do not infer parity from the shared name. Apple beta availability is listed on each product page; Android uses the download offered there. Compatibility, OS requirements and available controls follow that release. This FAQ's build number is the Apple Montana build, not an Android or Business version.

Read TestFlight's message first: a build can still be processing, withdrawn or expired, and an invitation may have limits. Refresh TestFlight and the official product page. Keep your existing installation and recovery words; reinstalling is not the first troubleshooting step. See the release notes for the actual available version.

Choose Montana's own identity creation flow on the first screen, read the responsibility notice, generate the 24 words and confirm that you saved them. To use an existing identity, choose Open identity and enter its words in order. Do not create another identity when you intend to restore the old one.

Open Settings → Save 24 words and complete the device authentication requested by the app. Keep an accurate private offline copy in order. The words grant access to your identity: do not send them to support, an AI assistant, a website form or a correspondent. This site and its FAQ never need them.

Install the app, choose Open identity and enter the same 24 words in the correct order. Keep the device online while available copies and coin history are gathered. Restoring the keys does not guarantee that every file still has an available keeper. Preserve the original device until you have checked chats, files and balance on the new one.

If an authorized device still opens your identity, save its 24 words first. Without the words or a device that still holds them, do not expect support, Apple Account or the website to reconstruct the secret. Before deleting an identity or app, verify both the words and the availability of your copies. A local file can be lost even when the identity can be restored.

The app can keep encrypted copies with contacts; inspect the copy status rather than assuming a switch means a copy arrived. Identity switching in the drawer opens a separate set of chats, settings and coins. The same words on two devices represent the same identity. Different words represent different identities; transferring coins between them is a real transfer.

Open the grid button to use the app library/drawer. It includes Chats, Contacts, Calls, Groups, Channels, the wall, TimeCoin, the contact card, Music, Gallery, Chess, VPN/Mesh/P2P walls, Passwords and Settings. Appearance settings choose the library's list or icon view and icon style. Some views depend on the product and platform.

Open your contact card to share the invitation link or QR code. The other person opens it in Montana or scans it and accepts the contact when asked. You can also use name lookup where available. A display name alone is not proof of whom you met: verify the intended person through a trusted channel before sharing sensitive material.

Open your own profile from the drawer or Settings to edit the name, picture and description. Open a correspondent's profile to inspect the conversation's media and available actions. Privacy contains the blocked-contact list and visibility controls. Blocking is different from muting: muting controls notifications, not your relationship with that person.

Open Settings → Privacy and use Show my coins, Online status and Read receipts as needed. Your balance visibility setting does not hide the public records of a coin transfer. The level badge remains visible independently of the balance switch. Review wall viewing and writing permissions separately.

Open a chat, type in the field and use the send arrow. The attachment controls offer the media picker, camera and files. Review the selected files and caption before sending. Montana also appears in the system Share sheet: choose the recipient or your wall there. A file appearing locally is not yet proof that the recipient received it.

A voice or video message is recorded in the chat composer and sent as a media message; the recipient plays it later. A call is a live conversation started with the handset or video control. Grant microphone/camera access only for the functions you use. Play a received recording by tapping its media control.

These are different stages. Sending is still work on the sender's side; sent is not the same as received; delivered means a receipt for the message arrived; read depends on the recipient and their receipt setting. A recording queued for delivery is not a confirmed recording on the other phone. Inspect the status below the actual message.

Keep the original file, check connectivity and read the error word. A failed outgoing media bubble can be tapped to retry. Avoid repeatedly forwarding the same file as new messages. If only one correspondent is affected, check that the contact was accepted and both apps are current; report the time and status if it persists.

Use the message's long-press menu for its available actions; swipe to reply where shown. Tap a quoted reply to return to its original. Select the intended destination before forwarding. Search and the conversation's media/file list help locate older material. Deleting for yourself and deleting for everyone are different choices; read the confirmation before accepting.

Use Gallery and Music in the app library, or the media section of a conversation. The viewer supports paging and zooming; videos have playback controls. The music player has its queue and playlist controls. Export a file through the system Share action when you need an external copy. A cache or thumbnail is not a backup of the original.

Open the person's chat or profile and choose the handset or video button. The recipient answers in the system call screen or Montana. Calling, Ringing and Connecting describe different steps; the conversation clock starts after connection. End with the hang-up control. A missed-call entry is a history item, not an ongoing call.

Use the call's microphone control to mute your microphone and the audio-route control to select the available speaker, receiver or headset. Confirm where sound actually plays. Hold suspends that call's media while another line can be active. Camera, camera switch and screen sharing have their own controls and permissions. Locking/backgrounding can affect video differently from audio.

From build 2210, only the person who initiated the one-to-one call automatically sends a recording into its chat. The recipient can still record locally and retains their own recording-based coin calculation. Both phones should update: an older recipient can still send under its older rules. If the caller did not record successfully, the recipient is not automatically promoted to sender. Rooms retain individual participant recordings.

Check consent, Record calls, microphone access, available storage and the recording error in the chat. Muted local audio and held-call audio are excluded. A process interruption can leave an incomplete recording; return to Montana for recovery. The sender must finish encoding and deliver the media. Old unfinished files without a saved caller role remain local rather than being sent by guesswork.

Each participant is counted separately for full connected seconds. Successful local recording earns coins at that person's current rate; seconds without recording burn at the same rate. Ringing and missed calls cost nothing; zero balance does not end the call or create debt. Level and music can change the rate. The completed call shows the settled net amount, which can be positive, zero or negative.

From build 2210, the coin receipt below a completed call shows its actual settled amount: green for earnings, red for spending and neutral for zero. Tap it to open your coin chain in the in-app Explorer, or the Explorer start page if the key is not yet available. This is not a separate public transaction for every call second: the chain aggregates minting and may confirm later.

Check both builds, network access, microphone permission, Focus/notification settings, mute and the actual audio output. End a stuck call once and retry with both apps open. Compare the reverse direction and Wi-Fi/mobile data. If it repeats, note local time, caller/recipient, both builds/OS versions and the failing stage. Do not use reinstalling or deleting the identity as a routine call repair.

Use Groups for a shared conversation and Channels for publishing to subscribers. Create or open them in the corresponding section, then use their information screen for invitations, membership and permissions. A channel's permission to publish is not the same as permission to subscribe. Inspect the role shown in the current group or channel before expecting an administrative action.

Open the group's or channel's available room control or invitation and join. Follow its speaker/listener permissions; microphone, camera and screen sharing are controlled separately. The owner manages the room's available actions. Room recordings and coin receipts belong to each participant's attendance, not to a single one-to-one caller.

Open your wall/profile or choose My wall in the system Share sheet, prepare text and attachments and publish. A correspondent's wall depends on their viewing and writing rules. The VPN, Mesh and P2P walls are separate sections; posting there does not itself configure a tunnel or connect a network. Check the destination before publishing.

Use the content or correspondent's available Report/Block actions and review Privacy's content filter. A report is different from deleting your local copy. Avoid reposting sensitive content to prove a problem; describe the location and use the reporting flow or official support. Group administrators manage the permissions available to their role.

TCM is Montana's Time Coin ticker. The app keeps a local coin book and a network-confirmed coin chain. TimeCoin shows the balance and its available, proven and declared parts. A displayed currency estimate is a personal calculation, not a market quote or an offer to redeem coins. See the exact current rules on the Coin rules page.

Open TimeCoin from the library. Tap the coin; up to 13 taps count per second, followed by the game's rest after a minute of tapping. Hold the coin for 9 seconds or pull the page down to start automatic minting. The app shows the current rate. Leaving the page or locking the screen stops automatic minting.

The current rate depends on the person's level and whether music is playing in Montana. Music doubles the rate where the rule applies; the displayed rate already includes the multiplier, so do not multiply it again. The base statement one second equals one coin does not replace the current personal rate shown under Top up.

The current rules include messages, sufficiently long group/channel text, recorded connected calls, a working VPN connection, chess and Chess Timer. A transfer comes from its sender rather than minting new coins. Different activities have their own conditions; read Top up and the Coin rules page instead of assuming that every screen or background second mints.

The large balance includes what the local book holds. Available is the amount confirmed by the coin chain; proven and declared explain its composition. Newly minted local amounts can wait for their time window and network confirmation. Refresh while online and inspect the chain. A growing local number alone does not prove that the network accepted it.

The current app rules state that coins cannot be bought, sold or exchanged for money in the app. The personal currency estimate is calculated from the earnings you entered. It is not a guaranteed price, bank balance, Bitcoin backing or withdrawal facility. Top up explains ways to mint; it is not a bank-card purchase screen.

Your Global level is the lower of two levels: the level of the chain of the person, which grows with your time on the network, and the level of π, which grows with the coins you hold. You see it in TimeCoin, on the TimeChain page, and in Settings, under Access by level. A level is not a security certification or a proof that a person is trustworthy.

A second counts while Montana is open on the screen of one of your devices and a Montana node answers it. The second is read from the node, never from the clock of your phone. Each level doubles the seconds of the one before: 1 second is level 0, 2 seconds level 1, 4 seconds level 2, then 8, 16, 32 and on. When you leave the network, your level stays, and nothing is added until you return. The TimeChain page shows the count as Time online, with the links of the chain.

It is the level of your wallet: how many first digits of π your balance reaches. 3 coins is level 1, 31 coins level 2, 314 coins level 3, then 3141, 31415 and on, up to 19 digits. Below 3 coins the level is 0. It is the one level you lower yourself: it falls when your balance falls. The Levels of π button in TimeCoin shows the table of levels.

Each level opens functions of Montana. Level 7 opens Forbid deletion on my phone: a message your correspondent deletes for everyone stays on your phone, and their phone is told so. Level 7 also opens Record calls: calls are recorded by themselves on your phone and sent to the call's chat after your first consent. Level 8 opens your own node: a machine you own joins the Montana network through this app. All of them are in Settings, under Access by level.

On every level the record button on the call screen starts and stops the recording of that call. From level 7, Settings → Access by level → Record calls records calls by themselves after your first consent, and the same switch turns it off. Audio and video are saved on this phone; for a one-to-one call only the caller sends the recording to the chat, room participants send their own recordings, and participants are notified. A red dot shows while a call is being recorded.

Setting up a machine you own from this app and sending copies of the phone to it open at level 8: the machine then joins the Montana network through this app. Taking your copy back from it is open on every level, on the Your node page and on the first screen.

Yes. When Montana leaves the screen, it keeps your Global level of that moment. When you come back, every second you were away is minted at that level: level 5 mints 5 coins a second, and no level mints more than 13 a second. At Global level 0 the time away mints nothing, and neither does it when the network did not answer Montana before it left the screen. Both moments are read from the Montana network, so turning the clock of the phone changes nothing.

The same 24 words on several devices are one person. Their seconds join: two devices open in the same second add one second, and once the devices have read each other's count, they show one chain of the person.

Each set of 24 words is a separate person: its own seconds, its own wallet, its own levels. The levels of two persons are never added together, and coins move between them only by a real transfer.

The people you write with see your Global level beside your avatar. The nodes of the network keep a table of how many people stand on each level: for it Montana gives them a mark made from your 24 words and your Global level, never your balance, name or contacts. Your seconds online leave the phone only sealed under your 24 words: the nodes keep them for your other devices and cannot read them.

The third chain of time of a person: the people they speak with regularly, in their own voices, weighed by how high those people stand. In the specification the level of a person is the lowest of three levels — the chain of the person, the wallet and the fabric of time — never a sum or a mean of them: a person stands where their weakest evidence places them.

The fabric rests on calls. A call weaves when each side received the other's voice for at least 60 seconds within it; each side counts what its own device received, so neither side's minute can be lent by the other. A ring answered and declined does not weave, and a call that does not weave yields no testimony.

The fabric reads time in turns of 7 days, each half of the 14-day period of adaptation. A correspondent is regular for a person in a turn when the person holds a testimony of a woven call from them in each of the two turns before it: a call in each half of the last 14 days. Correspondents are told apart by the keys their testimonies are signed with, and by nothing they state about themselves.

By a threshold, not by weight: the level of the fabric is the greatest number g such that at least g of the person's regular correspondents stand at level g or above. A correspondent far above g adds one, exactly as one standing at g does. The level of a turn is counted from the values of the regular correspondents at the close of the turn before, and holds unchanged through the turn.

No. The level of a person is the lowest of three levels, so the fabric only ever lowers a person below their ceiling and never raises them. A person's ceiling is the lower of the levels of their chain of the person and their wallet, taken at its lowest since the turn opened. The value of a correspondent is the lower of the last ceiling they stated and the least estimate they stated in the turn.

The level a person reads rests on the levels of the people they call, and theirs on the people those call. Counted from below, every person would wait on the others and all would stand at nothing. Counted from above once and never again, a fall would outlive its cause: a correspondent whose wallet dipped for a day would lower the people who counted them, those would lower the correspondent in return, and the whole circle would settle lower and stay there after the dip had passed. So every turn starts again from each person's ceiling and descends over that turn's calls: the descent reaches the core number of the person in the graph of regular calls, capped by their ceiling, and a descent the turn's letters could not carry to its end stands above it, never below.

Not in the first two turns: through the first two 7-day turns in which a person's fabric is woven there is no regular correspondent to weigh, and the level of the fabric is the person's ceiling. The fabric lowers a person from where their own time places them, and it starts there.

At the close of a call that wove, each side signs a testimony and gives it to the other, so each keeps the one the other gave. It names the call, names its holder by the hash their 30-digit fingerprint is read from, and states the window the call closed in as the signer's device read it from the network, the seconds of the holder's voice the signer's device received, and the signer's ceiling and estimate. It is signed with the key the two people compare out of band, travels only inside what its addressee alone opens, and is never published.

At the close of each turn the person's client witnesses the testimonies received in that turn in one action: each enters the person's fabric as a blinded leaf, and the network holds only a single root inside the commitment of the person's record. The root says nothing of whose the testimonies are, how many there are, or when the calls were made; the graph of who calls whom is never published. The level of the fabric is proven by opening: the person shows the testimonies of a turn to whom they choose.

Nothing above the ceiling. The fabric only lowers a person below their ceiling, so a correspondent who states a false ceiling or estimate can at most spare someone a lowering; they cannot carry anyone above that person's own ceiling. A testimony is signed: two testimonies of one call under one key that differ, or two in one turn of which the later states the higher estimate, are the signer's own proof against them, and the holder counts that signer at nothing for the turn.

The fabric counts keys and nothing beyond them, so a person who calls from several seeds is several correspondents. What bounds that is the ceiling each seed must reach by itself: a seed counts toward level g only at a value of g or above, which takes 2^g seconds of that seed's own presence on the network and the g-th prefix of π held as its own balance through the whole turn — and one balance is not held by two seeds at once.

Open TimeCoin → Send, select the intended contact and enter the amount, or use the coin action in their chat. Review the recipient and amount before confirming. Inspect the transfer message and confirmation link afterwards. Available funds and connectivity affect completion; a failed transfer must be distinguished from one that is still being confirmed.

First inspect its status and Explorer confirmation link. A second new transfer can be a second payment. Keep the original receipt and use its offered retry/status action rather than inventing a replacement. If the app reports coins returned, verify the updated balance. Contact support with the public transaction reference, time and builds, never the recovery words.

Open a transfer's confirmation link to inspect that transaction, or open a coin key's chain to inspect its records and balance calculation. The page reports what the nodes returned and the checks it completed. Pending, unavailable and verified are different outcomes. A local call receipt and a public transfer are different objects; the Explorer does not expose your call recording or chat text.

The coin history uses an in-app native browser. From build 2210, the call receipt, TimeChain Explorer button and transfer-chain links also open inside Montana. Close the browser to return to the previous page. Copying or sharing a confirmation link is a separate explicit action. On the website, Explorer is an ordinary web page.

Open TimeCoin → History or Analytics. History groups records and can summarize a day's minting; tap a row for its details. Analytics groups income and spending by period and source. TimeChains exposes the separate person, wallet, chat and call chains. A summary amount should be read with its period and category, not as a single payment.

Open Chess or a game's invitation in the chat. Check the opponent, time control and any stake before accepting. Moves add coins to the prize according to the player's level; the winner receives the prize, while a draw returns each player's share. A stake is optional. Inspect the final game and coin record instead of assuming that leaving the board settles the result.

Chess Timer is a separate game mode: its rule credits coins while the opponent thinks. Follow the clock and result shown in that mode; do not apply the call-recording or tapping rules to it. Use the game's own controls to end or leave and inspect its final record.

The chat's coin starts its Money Flow mode and shows the associated time ribbon and earnings. Read the invitation or mode state before using it; this is distinct from sending a chosen coin amount to someone. Ordinary message earning, Money Flow and call accounting are separate rules. Consult Top up for the current conditions.

Open the VPN section and add a configuration or subscription supplied by your chosen provider using the offered import controls. Review it, select a server and allow the system VPN configuration if you intend to use it. Enable the connection and inspect its status. Do not paste configuration secrets into an AI chat. Provider subscription payment is separate from Time Coins.

Check the selected server, subscription validity and the connection status. Compare another permitted network or server and test with VPN off when appropriate. This separates a provider/network problem from a Montana call problem. An enabled switch alone does not prove traffic is passing. Keep private connection credentials out of screenshots and reports.

No. A reachable path and the required participants are still necessary. Nearby communication depends on device permissions and compatible reachable peers; internet delivery, notifications and network confirmation have their own requirements. The Mesh/P2P walls are content sections, not proof of a direct connection. Read the actual connection state and test the intended scenario.

Open Settings → Your node. Enter the address of a machine you own. For setup from the phone, enter its login and password and tap Set up your node; this installs the Montana backup door and pins its certificate. The password is used once and is not retained. Read the resulting status, then enable Copies to your node or tap Send a copy now. Automatic copies require Wi-Fi and the open app; manual sending can use cellular data. Verify the stored copy by its time and size before relying on it. This backup door is not proof of a fully synchronized protocol node. Never give server credentials to an AI or the FAQ.

Open Passwords from the app library to manage the secrets stored for your current identity. Review an incoming shared secret before saving it. Sharing a password gives its contents to the recipient; it is not just a contact invitation. Keep recovery words separate and never paste them into an ordinary password-sharing message.

Microphone is needed for calls and voice capture; camera for your video or scanning; photos/files for the media you select; notifications for alerts; Bluetooth/local network for relevant nearby features. Review them in system Settings and Montana's Privacy page. A denied optional permission need not be repaired by deleting the identity; enable only the function you want to use.

Open Data and Storage and inspect what an action removes. Save important media externally and verify your recovery words and copies first. Local recordings, downloaded originals and cache are different things. Removing a file locally can remove your only usable copy. Do not assume that every attachment remains on a network node indefinitely.

Use Settings → Appearance for the available message, background, movement and app-library options. App-library icon styles are separate from the operating system's home-screen app icon. Visible translations follow the app/device language configuration. Reduce Motion affects animations. If an option differs from this guide, include your platform and build in the report.

Check both system notification permission and Montana → Settings → Notifications and Sounds. Review sound, sender/text visibility, lock-screen naming and each chat's mute setting. Focus and system restrictions can suppress alerts. A message in an already open chat may not produce another banner. Background delivery and the visible banner are different events.

Merely receiving a banner must not close TimeCoin. A brief inactive state, such as looking at notification or control panels, differs from leaving the app. From build 2210, a cancelled system edge gesture returns the page instead of completing a back swipe. Locking or leaving the page stops automatic minting. Tapping a notification is an explicit navigation action; report an unsolicited closure with its exact time.

Yes, the display depends on your preview settings and the operating system's lock-screen rules. Encryption does not hide text that your device has deliberately rendered on screen. Configure previews for your environment, and remember that a screenshot or shared display can expose what you see. Use the privacy policy for the current data-handling description.

Montana uses core cryptographic mechanisms for its protected messages and records. This does not mean every underlying internet, Apple or real-time-media component is post-quantum, or that endpoints cannot be compromised. Do not turn a product label into a claim of absolute anonymity or an independent completed audit. Read the current privacy policy, source and published technical evidence for the specific layer.

Give the product/build, device model/OS, local time and time zone, the steps, expected result and actual result. For calls include both sides and network changes. Share diagnostics only through the available consent/support flow. Remove private text, tokens and configuration secrets from screenshots. Never send your 24 words. A successful build is not proof of your phone's behavior.

Use the links below to Montana's product page, support, privacy policy, terms, coin rules, Explorer and release feed. montana.quest mirrors the site whose canonical address is montana.xxx. TestFlight's available build is the release authority. Do not trust an unsolicited message that asks for recovery words or payment to unlock a balance.

It does not guarantee every device/network combination, permanent media retention, complete cross-platform parity, a market value for coins, an independently completed protocol audit or flawless calls. Instructions describe reviewed code and current published rules. Physical verification of a new fix is separate from build and upload success. When evidence is missing, the answer is unknown rather than an invented promise.

Check the live availability file, the FAQ's reviewed build/date and the user's platform/build. Read the matching answer and cite its permanent URL, not just the home page. State version differences and unknowns. For rates use the current coin rules; for a transaction use its Explorer result. Never request recovery words, private keys or configuration secrets.

Yes: this FAQ has static HTML, Markdown, JSON and matching FAQPage structured data. The site root provides llms.txt and llms-full.txt, plus a sitemap and crawlable links. These make retrieval and citation possible without running JavaScript. They do not force any model vendor to train, index or cite the site, and search inclusion is not guaranteed.

Say which detail is unverified, link the closest relevant answer and official support, and ask only for non-secret context such as platform, build and the visible error. Do not infer server readiness, audit closure, coin value or recording delivery from marketing language. This knowledge base is a factual reference, not authorization to act on a user's account or device.

The Montana specification — the documents Constitution, Canon, Identity, Network, Consensus, Value, Registry and App — and the source of the Montana messenger for Apple devices and Android are open at github.com/efir369999/montana_messenger: the specification in core/docs, the apps in apps/messenger. Cite the document and its section by name.