How it works
SPORE nodes pass signed envelopes to each other whenever they can reach one another — over Wi-Fi, a cable, a shared folder, Bluetooth, sound, or radio. No node needs to be always-on, and no server sits in the middle.
Your device is the address
An address is the hash of a public key, not an account. There is nothing to sign up for and nothing a company can suspend.
Delivery is store-and-forward
Devices hold envelopes they haven't delivered yet and pass them on when they meet another node, so a message still arrives after you've been offline.
Nobody plans the route. A node drops anything it has already seen, keeps the rest until it expires, and passes each one on with a hop count one lower — so copies spread outward and die out instead of looping. Sending is how routes are found: the first copy to arrive teaches everyone along the way which direction the sender lies in, and replies come back that way until the path stops working, at which point it spreads out again.
Bridges are pluggable
The envelope format doesn't change between mediums — the same message crosses Wi-Fi, a USB stick, Bluetooth, an audio modem, or a radio link.
Private by default, public on purpose
A message to one person is sealed and only they can read it. A post to an open group travels in the clear, deliberately — that's what lets a stranger's device carry it forward.
Direct, when a path exists
For a live chat or file transfer, two nodes can open a low-latency pipe straight to each other. When no path exists, the message still gets there — just store-and-forward instead of instant.
One protocol, many runtimes
A phone, a browser tab, a daemon, or a cheap radio board all speak the same wire format. Runtimes differ; what they say to each other doesn't.