Do you still remember ICQ?

I’m building a messenger right now. And the longer I sit with it, the more often I think about ICQ.

I think a lot of you know exactly what I mean. That little contact list. Online. Away. Do not disturb. Nicknames. Status messages. Your own ICQ number, the one you eventually just knew by heart.

And of course that one sound:

“Uh-oh!”

You heard it and you knew immediately: someone had written to you.

ICQ was actually pretty simple. But it had a feeling of its own. And that is the feeling I’m trying to bring back a little. Not ICQ itself. Not a copy. And not an attempt to pretend it’s 2002 again.

What I’m interested in is this question: What actually felt good about it back then — and why does so much of today’s messaging feel more impersonal, even with far more features?

I’m building NOQTURN

The messenger I’m working on is called NOQTURN.

And important up front: NOQTURN is not finished. I’m actively programming, trying things, changing things, and probably throwing some of it out again. But it has reached a point where you can actually use it and test it.

That is why I’m writing this. Because I need people who want to try NOQTURN. Preferably people who still know that old messenger feeling. Or at least understand what I mean by it.

What I liked about ICQ back then

I don’t want to start with the usual “everything was better before.” It wasn’t. The internet was slower. Sending files could take what felt like forever. And some of it we probably wouldn’t tolerate for five minutes today.

But there was still something I miss. You came home. Computer on. ICQ on. And then you looked: Who’s there?

Friends from school. People from some forum. Someone you met at a concert. Someone from another city. Maybe that one person you watched a little more closely when they suddenly came online.

You had your contact list. And those were just your people. No endless timeline. No videos you were supposed to watch next. No likes. No followers. No algorithm deciding what was supposedly important for you.

Just contacts. And if someone was online, you could write. That was basically it. And maybe that is the whole point.

Does the world really need another messenger?

Of course I ask myself that too. We have WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram and other phone messengers. We have Discord. We have TeamSpeak. And now there is even ICQ Reborn, a project that deliberately aims at the old ICQ experience.

So why NOQTURN? Why write another messenger?

My answer is not: Because the others are bad. They aren’t. I use some of them myself. But they solve something slightly different for me.

Discord, for example, is very much about servers, communities and channels. TeamSpeak still means voice, groups and gaming for a lot of people. The classic phone messengers hang very tightly on the smartphone, and often on contacts you already know through a phone number.

And ICQ Reborn goes deliberately toward bringing the classic ICQ experience back. I actually think that’s pretty cool. But I want to try something else with NOQTURN.

I want a real contact list again

Maybe that sounds completely old-fashioned. But that is exactly the point. I want to open a messenger and see my people. Not pick a server first. Not click through channels. Not scroll a feed. Not check what is trending.

Just: my contacts.

• Who is online?
• Who is away?
• Who does not want to be disturbed?
• Who is offline?
• And who do I want to write to right now?

That is the core of NOQTURN for me. A messenger should first feel like a messenger. Not like a social network. Not like a giant community platform. Not like a content portal. Just contacts and conversations.

And yes: the number is back

That was clear to me pretty quickly. If you had ICQ, you probably remember your ICQ number. Some people probably still remember it today. I wanted that principle back.

So every NOQTURN account automatically gets its own fixed Noqturn number. Not a phone number. No real-name requirement. Just a number that belongs to your account. Other people can find you with it and send a contact request.

There is a nickname too, of course. But I like this thought: you meet someone somewhere. And instead of handing over a private mobile number, maybe it becomes “What’s your number?” Only this time it means the Noqturn number.

You have your nickname. You have your profile. And you have your number. That’s it.

Maybe that’s pretty nerdy. But those little things are exactly what that old messenger feeling is made of for me.

What NOQTURN can already do

As I said: this thing is still under construction. But quite a bit already works.

• a classic contact list — search and add people
• a fixed Noqturn number for every account
• statuses: Online, Away, Do not disturb, Invisible, Offline
• your own status message and profile pictures
• private chats and private groups
• images and files
• typing indicators and read receipts
• browser, Windows app, and the same account everywhere

You can also use the web version on a phone in the browser. A native Android app is just entering its first closed test. For that I need a Gmail address, because access goes through the Play Store. iOS comes later.

And about the Windows version, honestly: it still needs more frequent updates. Builds change, installs have to be redone. That is why I currently lean toward testing the web version first. Android and Windows should definitely be tested too — just not as the first step for everyone.

And of course there is a message sound. Yes. Also an “Uh-oh!” Not the original ICQ sound. That would not be the path I want to take anyway. But I also didn’t want to do it without a small audible recognition moment.

And what is still missing?

That belongs here too. I don’t want to pretend NOQTURN is already a finished product. It isn’t. I’m still programming. Things are missing. Some decisions are not made yet. Others will probably only appear through feedback.

• no public rooms yet
• no public goth, metal, punk or city chats you can just walk into
• no scene tags or discovery features
• no iOS app yet
• security and moderation still need more work

That is exactly why I’m looking for testers now. Not only once everything is finished.

Why not just Discord?

That will probably be one of the first questions. And the answer is: because I don’t want to build a second Discord.

Discord is strong at putting a lot of people into servers, communities and channels. That is not my starting point. With NOQTURN the community should not come first. The individual contact should.

You have someone on your contact list. You see their status. You write to them. If there are several of you, you make a private group. That is a different way of thinking about a messenger. Smaller. More direct. More personal.

And why not just WhatsApp or Signal?

That question is fair too. Of course you can write just fine with existing messengers. But there, a contact usually starts by exchanging phone numbers, or by already being in each other’s address book.

That is what I want to loosen a little. On NOQTURN you have your own messenger identity: your nickname, your Noqturn number, your contact list. You don’t automatically have to give your private mobile number to every person you want to write to.

That sounds like a small difference. For me it is a fairly important one.

And what about ICQ Reborn?

I actually find ICQ Reborn interesting. The project leans hard into the classic ICQ experience. And that is completely fine. I even think it’s nice that people are trying to bring that piece of internet history back to life.

My approach is still different. I don’t want to rebuild ICQ as faithfully as possible. I want to take a few things that felt good then.

Contact list? Yes. Status? Yes. Your own number? Definitely. Direct conversations instead of a feed? Absolutely.

But something of its own should come out of that. Its own design. Its own features. Its own tech. Its own direction. So NOQTURN should not just become “ICQ, but dark.” You can feel the inspiration. But in the end NOQTURN should be its own messenger.

And why subcultures at all?

NOQTURN comes pretty strongly out of my own surroundings. And those surroundings are, to a large extent, people from alternative scenes: goth, darkwave, EBM, industrial, metal, punk, emo, visual kei, cosplay, nerd and geek culture, alternative art, tattoo and piercing culture, queer communities — and all the overlaps between them.

I don’t want NOQTURN to be a messenger where you first have to prove which scene you belong to. That is not the point at all. Quite the opposite. I find it interesting that most people are not just “one thing” anyway.

Someone listens to darkwave, goes to metal concerts, does cosplay, takes photos, plays pen and paper — and maybe sits at a completely different event the next weekend. Why split that artificially?

So the idea is more this: NOQTURN should grow out of that alternative culture. Not as a closed club. But with a certain attitude. A little less mainstream. A little less self-display. A little less reach. And hopefully a little more real conversation.

Maybe we don’t need more features at all

This is something I think about a lot while programming now. Usually the first thought with a new app is: what else can we add? Which feature is still missing? What can other apps do that we also need?

Maybe that is exactly the wrong approach. Maybe NOQTURN doesn’t have to be able to do everything someday. Maybe the opposite is interesting. Not another messenger that eventually becomes a giant everything-platform. One that stays a little smaller on purpose: contact list, status, number, conversations, private groups.

Maybe that is too little for some people. Could be. But maybe that is exactly why it feels good for others.

And that is what I want to test now

I can keep programming alone and tell myself that all my ideas are great. That doesn’t help. In the end other people have to use the thing.

So I’m looking for people who want to test NOQTURN early. Not someday, when everything is finished and polished. Now. While I’m still building it.

I want people who tell me honestly: this works. This is awkward. This is missing. Nobody needs this. This feels good. Or maybe even: “Shit, this really reminds me a little of back then.”

Of course I also need people who find bugs. But the feeling matters almost more. Is it fun to have the contact list open again? Is it pleasant to see who is online? Does your own number feel good, or is that just nostalgic nonsense now? Do you miss something? Is something completely unnecessary?

Those are the things I want to know.

Maybe in the end it really is just nostalgia

That can happen too. Maybe people test it and say: “It was nice then. I don’t need it anymore.” Then that is how it is.

But maybe the opposite happens. Maybe while using it you suddenly think: Damn. I somehow missed exactly this. That little window. The contact list. The people who are there right now. A message. A sound. And otherwise, at first, nothing.

That is what I want to find out.

So: who wants in?

If you used ICQ back then, I would especially like your opinion. Maybe you even still know your old number. But you don’t have to be an ICQ veteran. If you simply want to try a new messenger very early and give me honest feedback, you are just as welcome.

NOQTURN is not finished. I’m still in the middle of programming. A lot will still change. Features will be added. Other ideas may get thrown out again. And that is exactly why now is actually the best time to bring testers in.

You can sign up below. Please choose which version you want to test:

• Web version — currently the easiest way in. Runs in the browser, including on a phone.
• Windows test build — desktop app. It may need more frequent updates right now.
• Android app — Android only for now, no iPhone yet. I need a Gmail address for this.

I currently lean toward starting with the web version. Later, Android and Windows definitely need to be tested as well.

So: Do you still remember ICQ? What do you associate with it? What do you miss in today’s messengers? Would you even still use a classic contact list today? What do you think of the idea of your own Noqturn number?

And above all: Do you want to test NOQTURN with me and see whether that old messenger feeling can actually be brought back a little?

Then sign up. I’m really curious what you think.