Findable by Phone Number — connect with people you already know.
When you and someone you know already have each other’s number saved as a contact, ChatMinder can match you automatically — no usernames to share, no invitations to send.
How phone number matching works
When you grant ChatMinder permission to access your contacts, the app converts each phone number into a cryptographic hash — a one-way fingerprint of the number. These hashes are compared against hashes from other users who have also made themselves findable. If there’s a match, ChatMinder shows you that the person is on the app and lets you add them as a contact.
The process is entirely automatic. No manual searching, no sharing of usernames, no invite codes — just tap to add someone you already know.
Being found works both ways
For two people to find each other this way, both must have the other’s number saved as a contact, and both must allow themselves to be found. You control your own discoverability at any time from your profile settings — turning it off means no one can find you this way, even if they already have your number saved.
Once you’ve granted contact permission, ChatMinder can also sync automatically in the background. As new people you know join ChatMinder and become findable, they appear in your suggested contacts without you having to check again manually.
Privacy first — raw numbers never leave your device
Phone numbers are hashed locally on your device before anything is sent to ChatMinder’s servers. The server only ever sees a cryptographic fingerprint — the original number cannot be reconstructed from it. Contacts who are not on ChatMinder are not stored, logged, or processed in any way.
Findable by Phone Number is entirely opt-in. If you never grant contact permission and never enable discoverability, the feature does not run and no contact data is ever sent.
For children with their own phone
Findable by Phone Number is also available for protected users who have their own mobile phone. This option is disabled by default and can be enabled per child by their guardian — giving children the same easy way to connect with friends they already know, within the same safe, supervised environment. Guardians turn this on or off from Feature Protection in the child’s profile, and the protected user must separately verify their own phone number and enable discoverability from their profile.
Setting up a protected user → · Feature Protection → · Guardian supervision dashboard →
Not to be confused with Suggested Contacts
Findable by Phone Number works automatically, based on phone numbers already saved as contacts on both sides — no one has to share or introduce anyone. Suggested Contacts is a separate feature where a guardian actively chooses to share a protected user’s profile with specific people, so they can find each other without needing to know a phone number at all.
Ready to get started?
It takes minutes to set up. No phone number or email required for your child.