Private family messaging, made simple.
Follow this page once to set up Element X on your phone. After that, you can message, share photos, and call family members from one private app.
- Private by designMessages and calls can be end-to-end encrypted.
- Family controlledOur family manages the server and who may join.
- No ads or profilingYour conversations are not used to target advertising.
- Connected when neededFederation lets you reach people on other Matrix servers.
Create your family account
- Open the private invitation link sent to you by a family administrator.
- If it opens inside Facebook Messenger or another app, use its menu to choose Open in browser.
- Enter your name, email address, username, and a new password.
- Tap Continue or Create account.
- When enrollment finishes, close the browser.
Remember the username and password you created. You will use them again in Step 4.
Install Element X
Install the official Element X app for your phone.
Do not choose “Create account” inside Element X. Your account was already created from the invitation.
Choose the Hoots family server
The buttons are a little different on Android and iPhone. Open the section for your phone.
Android phone
- Open Element X and tap Sign in manually.
- When it says You’re about to sign in to matrix.org, do not continue.
- Tap Change account provider.
- On the next screen, tap Other.
- On Find an account provider, type hootsfamily.com.
- Wait for hootsfamily.com to appear below the box, then tap that result.
- When it says you are about to sign in to hootsfamily.com, tap Continue.
Typing the address is not the last step. Be sure to tap the hootsfamily.com result that appears.
iPhone
- Open Element X and tap Sign in manually.
- When it says You’re about to sign in to matrix.org, do not continue.
- Tap Change account provider.
- On Select your server, tap the Homeserver URL box.
- Delete the existing address and type hootsfamily.com.
- Tap Continue.
- Confirm the Hoots family server by tapping Continue again.
Sign in
- Element X will open the Hoots family sign-in page in your browser.
- If you see Continue with Authentik, tap it.
- Enter the username and password you created in Step 1.
- Tap Sign in and approve the login if asked.
- Your phone should return to Element X automatically.
Finish the safety setup
- Allow notifications when your phone asks.
- Follow the prompt to Set up recovery.
- Save the recovery key in a password manager or as a printed copy in a safe place.
Do not send your recovery key in a message. You may need it if you lose or replace your phone.
Find your family
- Tap the new-message button.
- Search for a family member by name.
- Tap the correct person and send a short message.
- Send a small photo to make sure everything works.
A new member appears in the family directory after completing their first Element X login.
Messaging outside the family
The Hoots family server is federated with the wider Matrix network. If someone uses another Matrix server, search for their full address—for example, @username:theirserver.com.
Federation does not let the public create Hoots family accounts. Joining our server still requires a private invitation.
Common problems
“Homeserver not found”
Check that you entered exactly hootsfamily.com. Do not enter the Authentik address or add another server name.
The invitation opened inside Messenger
Use the three-dot menu and choose Open in browser, or copy the link into Safari or Chrome.
The browser did not return to Element X
Switch back to Element X manually. If it is still waiting, cancel and repeat the sign-in using Safari or Chrome.
A person is missing from search
They must finish their first Element X login before their Matrix account appears in the family directory.
Still stuck?
Take a screenshot of the screen where you stopped and send it to the family administrator. Never include your password or recovery key.