Household Chat and Calls Documentation

How to read this document

Sections move from purpose → concepts → calculation process → worked examples → edge cases. Formula boxes use plain mathematical notation for clarity; they are conceptual summaries, not API contracts.

• Point lists call out operator-visible behaviour.
• Callouts mark warnings, limitations, or important qualifications.
• Worked examples use round numbers so you can reproduce the arithmetic by hand.

Purpose

The household has one implicit chat thread — nobody picks a room, and no other household's chat can be addressed. When a message is not enough, members can call each other directly: voice or video, one-to-one or a small group, from a Members screen that shows live presence.

• One thread per household, appearing once the household has two or more people
• Chat capability mirrors a Split group chat, plus voice messages
• Calls support one-to-one and groups of up to six participants
• Both surfaces are mobile-first

What chat can do

• @username and @everyone mentions, threaded replies, and emoji reactions.
• Delivery and read receipts in the familiar messaging style.
• Voice messages with recorded duration; file and image attachments.
• Pinned messages for the things the household keeps needing.
• Live updates over a socket; push notification when you are away — suppressed while you are actively viewing the thread.

Editing and moderation

• Edit or delete your own message within a 24-hour window.
• Hide any message just for yourself (delete-for-me).
• Household admins can pin, and delete a message for everyone.
• Members who have not finished activating their account appear as pending and cannot join chat yet — the app explains why.

Encryption, stated honestly

Message bodies are encrypted at rest on the server and always travel over TLS. This is at-rest encryption, not end-to-end: the service can decrypt message bodies, which is what keeps push previews, mention alerts, and reply previews working.

• Bodies encrypted at rest; transport always encrypted.
• Full-history search runs on your own device against a local cache — search terms never leave the phone.
• We do not claim end-to-end encryption for chat, and you should not rely on chat for content that requires it.

Calls

• Voice and video, one-to-one or group calls with up to six participants.
• The Members screen shows who is online, in a call, or unavailable.
• Incoming calls ring full-screen, including from the lock screen.
• A ringing call times out to missed after roughly a minute if unanswered.
• Anyone can leave a call; only the caller or a household admin can end it for everyone.

Where call media goes

Call audio and video flow through a dedicated real-time media service using short-lived access tokens. Media is not routed through or stored on AccountHouse application servers, and calls are not recorded.

• Only call metadata is kept — who called whom, when, answered or missed.
• Tokens are short-lived and scoped to the specific call.

Availability

• Chat is available to all activated members of a multi-person household.
• Calls are enabled per household during beta — the Members entry appears once your household has them.
• Calls are household-only (not available inside Split groups) and mobile-first; there is no web call button.
• AH Lite deliberately omits chat and calls — use the main AccountHouse app.

Privacy, advice limits, and what we do not publish

AccountHouse is a household tracking and organisation tool. It is not a bank, payment processor, tax advisor, or investment advisor. Forecasts, health scores, balances, and alerts are informational.

• Household data is scoped to your household; other families cannot see your ledger.
• Public documentation explains product behaviour and calculation concepts, not proprietary internals.
• Exact scoring weights, anomaly thresholds, cryptography parameters beyond high-level algorithms, and operational detection rules are reserved.
• Chat content is visible to household members only; moderation actions are attributed.
• Call metadata (participants, timing, outcome) is retained for the household's own call history.