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📱 Getting Started (Phone → Computer Pairing)

This guide walks you through everything you need to do after installing the NovaKey phone app, from installing the desktop companion to sending your first secret.

What you need

  • An Phone with the NovaKey app installed
  • A computer running NovaKey-Daemon (Windows, macOS, or Linux)
  • A local network connection (phone and computer on the same network)

NovaKey does not use cloud services. All secrets remain local to your devices.

High-level setup flow

  1. Install NovaKey-Daemon on your computer
  2. Open NovaKey on your phone
  3. Add a Listener (your computer)
  4. Pair the phone and computer
  5. Add a secret on your phone
  6. Arm the computer and send secrets when needed

This is the fastest path to:

Send a secret from phone → computer

Step 0 — Install NovaKey-Daemon on your computer

NovaKey-Daemon is the free desktop companion that receives secrets from your phone.

These installers are the supported and recommended way to install NovaKey-Daemon.

Download the installer that matches your system from:

https://downloads.novakey.app/Installers/<file name>
See the Project Links in the left menu pane for the latest download links.

Or from GitHub Releases:

https://github.com/OsbornePro/NovaKey-Daemon/releases

Platform notes

Windows

  • Download NovaKey-Setup.exe
  • Double-click and follow the installer
  • No admin privileges required
  • Creates a per-user Scheduled Task
  • Starts automatically at login

macOS

  • Download the .pkg that matches your Mac:

  • Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3): *-arm64.pkg

  • Intel: *-amd64.pkg
  • Double-click and follow the installer

  • Grants permissions under:

  • Accessibility

  • Input Monitoring
  • Registers a LaunchAgent and starts automatically

Linux

  • Download .deb or .rpm package
  • Install using your package manager
  • Runs as a systemd user service
  • Starts automatically when you log in

⚠️ Legacy installation (deprecated)

The original shell and PowerShell install scripts still exist for advanced or automated environments but are no longer recommended for end users.

They live under:

installers/legacy/

They may be removed in a future release.

Verify the daemon is running

The daemon must be listening on port 60768.

Windows

Get-NetTcpConnection -State Listen -LocalPort 60768

Linux

ss -tunlp | grep 60768

macOS

lsof -i :60768

If the daemon is listening, you’re ready to pair.

Step 1 — Add a Listener (Phone)

  1. Open the NovaKey app
  2. Tap Listeners (antenna icon) NovaKey-iOS-App Go to Listeners
  3. Tap Add Listener

  4. Enter:

  5. Name: e.g. “My Desktop”

  6. Host/IP: your computer’s LAN IP or hostname
  7. Port: 60768
  8. Enable Make Send Target
  9. Tap Add NovaKey-iOS-App Add Listener

You will now see your listener added. NovaKey-iOS-App shows Listener Added

⚠️ A Send Target must be selected to pair or send secrets.

Step 2 — Pair the phone and computer (QR code)

On your phone

  1. Go to Listeners NovaKey-iOS-App Go to Listeners
  2. Select your listener (or swipe right)
  3. Tap Pair NovaKey-iOS-App Pair
  4. Tap Scan QR Code NovaKey-iOS-App Scan QR
  5. Allow camera access if prompted NovaKey-iOS-App Approve Camera Access

On your computer

  1. Ensure NovaKey-Daemon is running

  2. If no devices are paired yet:

  3. The daemon enters pairing mode

  4. A time-limited QR code is generated and displayed
  5. Scan the QR code with your phone

Complete pairing

  1. Verify the device information on your phone
  2. Tap Pair NovaKey-iOS-App Verify Pairing
  3. Allow local network access when prompted

When pairing succeeds, the listener will show Paired. NovaKey-iOS-App Allow NovaKey to find devices on the local network

Step 3 — Add your first secret

  1. Tap +
  2. Enter a label and secret NovaKey-iOS-App New Secret
  3. Confirm and tap Save

NovaKey intentionally never displays secrets again after saving.

Step 4 — Send a secret

  1. Tap the secret
  2. Tap Arm Computer NovaKey-iOS-App Arm Computer
    NovaKey-iOS-App Successful Arm Message
  3. Tap Send NovaKey-iOS-App Send Secret NovaKey-iOS-App Successful Sent Secret
  4. Authenticate with Face ID or device passcode

Possible outcomes:

  • Sent to — typed injection
  • 📋 Copied to clipboard on — typing blocked, clipboard used

Both indicate a successful send.

If something doesn’t work

Start with:

  • Phone App → Troubleshooting
  • NovaKey-Daemon → Troubleshooting

Most issues are caused by:

  • Phone and computer not on the same network
  • Firewall blocking port 60768
  • Daemon bound to 127.0.0.1 instead of a LAN address
  • Pairing window missed (restart daemon if needed)