Twitter’s Co-Founder Releases A Messaging App That Does Not Need The Internet Or Wi-Fi To Operate

Twitter’s co-founder, Jack Dorsey, has released Bitchat – a messaging application that does not depend on the Internet, cellular towers, or Wi-Fi.

It is a privacy-focused, Bluetooth-based app that offers messaging services without a centralized server or phone network.

Currently, it is only available to iPhone users on TestFlight.

HOW DOES BITCHAT WORK

According to Hindustan Times, Bitchat does not work like conventional messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram. These depend on servers, but Bitchat is entirely decentralized.

With no central database, Bitchat works on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) mesh networks. This helps smartphones form local clusters and then send encrypted messages from one device to another.

• Messages are end-to-end encrypted and are deleted automatically after a set period.
• There is no need for a user to officially register on Bitchat using their email ID and phone number. The communication is 100% anonymous.
• Bitchat does not rely on any kind of Internet connection, mobile data, Wi-Fi, or centralized servers. It depends only on Bluetooth clusters that devices in range create (approximately 30 meters).
• But what happens if a user moves beyond the range? In such cases, their smartphone will simply bridge clusters created by other smartphones currently using Bitchat. This will enable messages to be sent across distances that go beyond the Bluetooth limits.

HOW CAN YOU USE BITCHAT

Currently, Bitchat is only available in beta to iPhone users through the TestFlight platform. The peer-to-peer decentralized messaging app has already hit its 10,000 testing cap. This happened shortly after it was launched.

Presently, the beta phase focuses on two things: relay stability and battery optimization. When Bitchat is finally released officially, the team is likely to add a Wi-Fi protocol to the app. This will not just increase the bandwidth but also allow sharing content like pictures and videos.

On July 7, Twitter’s co-founder, Jack Dorsey, took to X to share the news of Bitchat.

In his post, he wrote, “my weekend project to learn about bluetooth mesh networks, relays and store and forward models, message encryption models, and a few other things.

bitchat: bluetooth mesh chat...IRC vibes.

TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/QwkyFq6z

GitHub: https://github.com/jackjackbits/bitchat”