Getting Started

The first thing you need to do when getting started with iPGMail is to either import your existing keys (if you have them) or create a new keypair for yourself.

Import Keys from iTunes File Sharing

  1. Export your private key from your desktop PGP software (GPG Keychain on Mac, gnupg, etc) using the ASCII format and with a .asc file extension
  2. Attach your device to your computer and open up iTunes.
  3. Make sure your device is “unlocked”, file transfers to ipgmail will fail if the device is in the locked state.
  4. Select your device on the left, then select the “apps” tab on the top. Scroll down until you see “File Sharing”. Select “iPGMail” and then you can add files to the window and they will automatically be transferred to iPGMail.
  5. In the app, select the “Files” tab to view the files available
  6. Select the keyfile that was shared via iTunes
  7. Selecting the file should present the user with an action sheet, choose the “Decode” action
  8. When importing private keys, the user will be presented with a popup asking for the passphrase to decrypt the private key information. Enter the passphrase and select “OK” to proceed.
  9. Once the key is successfully imported, the view will automatically switch to the key detail view and you can review the information associated with the key. Select the “Done” button to close the detail view. You should see they key in both the public and private key listings from the Keys tab.

Transfer keys using Apple’s AirDrop

NOTE: only for Mac OS/X 10.10 (Yosemite) or later

  1. On the computer, export your key (public OR private) from your desktop PGP software (GPG Keychain on Mac, gnupg, etc) using the ASCII format and with a .asc file extension
  2. On your iPhone or iPad with iPGMail installed, enable “AirDrop” in the settings widget (pull up from bottom of screen)
  3. On the computer, right click on the exported key file, select Airdrop in the “Share” submenu
  4. Select your iPhone or iPad as the device to share with. If it is not an option, go to the device and make sure you have properly enabled AirDrop.
  5. Once you select your iPhone or iPad on the computer in the AirDrop Share panel, it will transfer the file to the device, the device will then present you with a list of apps to use to read the file, choose iPGmail. If iPGMail was not an option, make sure that the file has the “.asc” file extension.
  6. Once the key is successfully imported, the view will automatically switch to the key detail view and you can review the information associated with the key. Select the “Done” button to close the detail view. You should see they key in both the public and private key listings from the Keys tab.
  7. You can now disable AirDrop on the iPhone or iPad.

Import Public Keys from PGP.net

When viewing the list of public keys on the “Keys” tab, the action button in the upper right can be used to open a view that can be used to search the PGP.net servers to import public keys. Touching the “+” field next to the “Server:” line will present a list of servers to choose from. All of these servers are synchronized nightly so keys available on 1 are usually available on all of the others. Enter in an email address or a key id (ex: 0x47e3234c) and it will display a list of matching keys that you can then select and use the “Import” button to import into the app.

Import Public Keys from Keybase.IO

Keybase.IO is an online collection of public keys paired with unique user ids. If you select “Search Keybase.IO” from the public key search choices (touch “+” on the public key list view), you will be presented with a form that lets you search for users or keys in the Keybase.IO database. You can enter their username or keyID (partial keyIDs are OK). The list of matching keys or users will be displayed. When you select the user that you are looking for it will show details about that user and then you can click on the key’s fingerprint value to import their public key into the app.

Creating a New Keypair

  1. Select the “Keys” tab
  2. Select the “Private” segment button at the top
  3. Select the Action icon in the upper right, choose "create new keypair" option"
  4. Fill in your preferred key attributes
  5. Select the “Create” button to begin generating the key (may take a few seconds to complete)