PGPony
Download

How to encrypt a file with PGPony

Two minutes from picking a file in iOS Files or your Android file manager to a sealed .pgp output you can send through any channel. Works for documents, photos, archives, any file.

~2 minutes iOS / Android Recipient key required
At a glance
  1. Recipient's public key in your keyring
  2. Open the file in Files / file manager
  3. Share to PGPony
  4. Run encrypt, pick recipient(s)
  5. Save the .pgp output
Prerequisites
  • PGPony installed on your phone
  • The file accessible via Files (iOS) or your file manager (Android)
  • The recipient's OpenPGP public key already imported into PGPony
Step 1

Confirm the recipient's key is in your keyring

Open PGPony and check that the recipient's public key is in your keyring. If not, import it first, from a key file they've sent you, from a keyserver lookup, or however you have their key available.

Tip For a recipient you'll encrypt to regularly, verify their fingerprint by an out-of-band channel (in person, signed message, phone call). The verification only has to happen once.
Step 2

Open the file

On iOS, open Files and navigate to where the file lives (On My iPhone, iCloud Drive, a connected cloud service). On Android, open your file manager (Google Files, your OEM's Files app, Solid Explorer, etc.) and find the file.

Step 3

Share the file into PGPony

iOS: tap the Share button (square with up-arrow), find PGPony in the app list, tap it.

Android: tap the Share action and select PGPony from the share intent picker.

PGPony opens with the file attached as input.

Step 4

Run the encrypt operation

PGPony opens the Encrypt tab with the file pre-loaded in File mode (the Mode picker at the top shows Text / File / Sign). Confirm File mode is selected. If you want a signature so the recipient can verify the file came from you, leave the Sign message toggle on (default). Signing requires unlocking your secret key, so you'll be prompted for biometric or passphrase.

Step 5

Select the recipient(s)

Tap into Select Recipients and choose the public key(s) to encrypt to. You can select multiple recipients; each will be able to decrypt independently with their own secret key.

You can also include your own key as a recipient. Useful if you want to be able to decrypt the file yourself later. Without including your own key, encrypting only to someone else means even you can't read your own output afterward.

Tip If you set a default recipient in PGPony, your most-common contact is pre-selected here automatically. Handy when you keep encrypting to the same person from the Share Sheet.
Step 6

Confirm and save

Tap Sign & Encrypt (or Encrypt Without Signing if you want confidentiality only, no proof of origin). PGPony reads the file, encrypts it under each recipient's public key, optionally signs with your secret key, and writes the result as a new file with .pgp appended (e.g. report.pdf → report.pdf.pgp).

The output is a normal file from your OS's perspective. Attach to email, upload to cloud storage, send via any messenger, hand-deliver on a USB stick. The ciphertext is portable across any channel.

Verify it worked

  • A filename.ext.pgp file exists alongside (or in place of) the original.
  • The .pgp file size is roughly the original plus small per-recipient overhead (typically a few hundred bytes per recipient).
  • If you encrypted to yourself, decrypt the .pgp in PGPony to recover the original content exactly.
  • If you encrypted to someone else, confirm with them that decryption succeeds on their side.

Common questions

What file sizes can PGPony handle?

Practically up to several hundred megabytes. The limit is device memory and storage. For multi-gigabyte backups, desktop GnuPG is more efficient.

Multiple recipients at once?

Yes. Select multiple keys from your keyring. The .pgp output is decryptable by any of the chosen recipients with their own secret key.

Encrypt to myself?

Yes. Choose your own public key as a recipient. Common for encrypted personal archives or backups.

Does PGPony encrypt folders?

One file at a time. For a folder, zip or tar it first (typically on desktop), then encrypt the archive.

Should I sign when encrypting?

Yes if authenticity matters. Combine encryption and signing in the same step. The recipient gets both confidentiality and proof of origin.

Next steps

Use

Decrypt a PGP message
Use

Verify a PGP signature
Use

Send an encrypted email
Distribute

Publish your public key

Get PGPony

Free OpenPGP encryption for iOS and Android. No accounts, no tracking.

Download on the App Store
Get it on Google Play