How it works
Does the person I write to need to install anything?
No. The letter is a link. It opens in any browser, complete, and stays there. No app, no account, nothing to sign up for.
Can Instar read my letter?
No. Your browser encrypts the letter with AES-GCM-256 before anything is sent. The key rides in the link after the #, which browsers never send to a server. Instar stores ciphertext, a view count and two timestamps: when the letter may open, and when it was first opened.
Can they peek before it lands?
No. The server refuses to hand over the letter before its opening time. Until then there is nothing on the page to peek at.
How fast do the couriers fly?
At their real, measured speeds. Jakarta to Amsterdam by green darner, the fastest insect reliably clocked, takes about eight days. A dung beetle takes years. Every speed is cited on the couriers page.
What is the public sky?
An opt-in map of letters in flight. It shows city to city and the courier. Never the names, never the words.
Can I make a letter arrive on a specific day?
Yes. Choose Arrive by and pick the date, a birthday for example. Instar picks the slowest courier that still makes it, and the spare time is spent resting at real places along the route, so it lands at the moment you chose. If no insect is fast enough, it arrives as early as it can.
Can I add photos?
Yes, up to five per letter, 3 MB in total. They are encrypted with the letter and the server withholds them until it lands, the same as the words.
Can they keep the letter after it lands?
Yes. The opened letter prints or saves as a PDF from its page, and the tracking page can add the landing time to a calendar. The link itself works for thirty days after opening.
How long does a letter stay?
Thirty days after it opens, then it is deleted. Print it to keep it. Either side can delete it early.
Instar is made by Beetlix, a one-person studio. Who makes it and why.