Private Video Calls: What Makes a Call Actually Secure
What makes a video call app secure: end-to-end encrypted media, how calls are routed, the IP address question, and what encryption still doesn't hide.
The Sodal blog Notes on privacy, family,
Notes on privacy, family,
and staying close.
Field notes from building a private home for your circles — encryption explained plainly, product updates, and how to keep the people you love close without giving everything away.
Private calls
Digital wellbeing
Screen Time vs Trust: Raising Kids Who Self-Regulate
Screen time limits produce compliance; trust produces judgment. Why control-based parenting stops working at 18, and how to raise kids who self-regulate.
Family organization
A Shared Family Calendar That Isn't Mined for Ads
What makes the best calendar app for families — the practical must-haves, plus the criterion no roundup scores: who can read your family's schedule.
Private photos
Private Photo Sharing: Keep Family Pictures Off Big Tech's Servers
Private photo sharing means only the people you choose can open your family pictures. How it works, what photos secretly leak, and how to pick an app.
Family safety
Location Sharing for Aging Parents: A Gentle Setup
How to set up location sharing with an aging parent respectfully: the conversation, a gentle step-by-step setup, and picking a private senior safety app.
Couples
Apps for Couples: Sharing Location, Plans, and Photos Privately
A couples app should hold your shared life — location, plans, photos, messages — in one private place. What to look for in apps for couples, and what to avoid.
Family safety
Family Safety Apps: Safety Without Surveillance
A family safety app should help everyone get home and get help — not track them. Where safety ends and surveillance begins, and how to choose well.
Privacy
End-to-End Encryption, Explained for Non-Techies
End-to-end encryption in plain English: what it means, how it works without the math, what it does and doesn't protect, and why it matters for normal people.
Private messaging
Secure Messaging Apps: What 'Secure' Should Actually Mean
What a secure messaging app should deliver — end-to-end encryption by default, protected backups, minimal metadata — and 5 questions that test any app.
Co-parenting
Co-Parenting Apps: What They Do and How to Pick a Private One
What a co-parenting app actually does, the two very different kinds, and how to pick one that keeps your family's most sensitive data private.
Location sharing
How to Share Your Location on iPhone (Every Method, Step by Step)
How to share your location on iPhone — every built-in method (Find My, Messages, Maps, Check In), step by step, plus how to keep it private and stop sharing.
Location sharing
Private Location Sharing, Explained: How It Works and Why It's Different
What private, end-to-end encrypted location sharing is, how it works, and how to choose a location sharing app that shares your whereabouts with family — and no one else.
More notes are on the way.
We're writing about encryption, family safety, and the small design decisions behind a calmer way to stay close. Leave your email and we'll let you know when Sodal — and the next post — is live.