People is the simplest piece of MercyChain. It looks at the contacts already in your phone, and tells you which of them carry a shell. A directory of who is here, and a quiet way to invite who is not.
Already there
You will be surprised. The people who feel furthest away are often the ones already here, quietly. People shows you the overlap — and lets you pass an invitation to the rest, in a single message.
A short list, kept short
Star the few you exchange with most. Search the rest when you need them. A directory, not a stage.
Privacy belongs to you
Your contacts are read on your device. We do not upload your address book. The matching happens between your phone and your shell — never between your phone and a stranger.
Questions
Everything People answers, in one place.
Open any question for a careful answer. The list grows as we add new
surfaces to the component.
What is the People tab?
A directory of the people in your phone, marked with a small Shell badge for the ones who are already on MercyChain. A simple way to see who is already here, and a quiet way to invite who is not.
Is People a social network?
No. There is no feed, no follow, no public profile to maintain. People is closer to an old address book than to anything called a network. Its purpose is to find your circle, not to be one.
How does MercyChain know which of my contacts are on it?
When you import your contacts, the phone numbers and email addresses are turned into one-way fingerprints — hashes — on your device, before they leave it. MercyChain compares those fingerprints to the ones in its records. If a fingerprint matches, the person is already here, and a Shell badge appears on their row.
Are my contacts uploaded?
Only as fingerprints. The plain phone number and email of someone you have not yet contacted stay on your device. The plain version is used only when you choose to send an invitation through WhatsApp — and it is sent through WhatsApp, not through us.
What is the Shell badge?
A small mark next to a contact’s name that says: this person already has a shell. A tap on their row will take you to their public shell, where you can send a pearl, request one, add them to your circle, or begin a small agreement.
Can I invite someone who is not yet on MercyChain?
Yes — through WhatsApp, in a single tap. The message is short, it carries your name, and it includes a link to MercyChain. The decision to install or not is theirs.
What is a "favourite"?
A star you place on a contact you reach for often, so they appear at the top of the list. Favouriting is silent — the other person does not know.
Can I see another person’s pearls?
No. People shows you only what is public — their name, the address of their shell, and the actions you can take with them.
What is "Connect Nearby"?
A way to find a shell when you are physically near another shell. Two phones in the same room can find each other through Bluetooth — without uploading your location, and without remembering anything afterwards.
Why does the phone number need to start with a country code?
Because a number without one is ambiguous. A number that begins with a + and a country code can be matched against any shell anywhere in the world. Without it, your friend in another country and your friend in this country might look like the same person, and we would have no honest way to tell them apart.
What if my friend’s number in my phone is missing the country code?
When you go to invite them, MercyChain will quietly ask which country they are in, and add the code for you. The next time you reach for them, the code will already be there.
Can I remove a contact?
Yes. Inside the contact’s detail, you can edit it, remove the Shell match, or delete the whole entry. Deletion is final — for that contact’s record on your shell. The other person’s shell is not affected.
