Twitter’s co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey has released a new trial of internet expression in the guise of a messaging application known as Bitchat.
Bitchat differs from other messaging applications as it does not need internet connectivity, SIM cards, or even individual accounts. It uses the technology of Bluetooth mesh for offering peer-to-peer messaging to devices.
Now released in beta on iOS via TestFlight, Bitchat is Dorsey’s latest effort to circumvent norms of digital privacy, decentralization, and open discourse.
Following his support for alternatives like Damus and Bluesky, this new platform is intended for situations where normal connectivity can collapse or be censored.
What Sets Bitchat Apart
Essentially, there’s an off-the-grid world of Bitchat. Phones communicate with one another directly via Bluetooth, to create end-to-end encrypted chains of messages that never touch mobile data, WiFi, or central servers.
When people are on the move, phones create temporary clusters that forward messages from neighbor to neighbor. Messages leap long distances by forwarding through “bridge devices” that transfer data between overlapping clusters.
No personal data is registered, no phone number, no email address, and no name. Messages are stored only on devices and are transient, deleting themselves automatically after an expiry time, for enhanced privacy and reduced risks of eavesdropping.
Features Already in Beta
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Secure one-on-one messaging
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Group chats protected by passwords
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Hashtag-based searchable chat rooms
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Store-and-forward delivery for messages to reach devices when they come back online
For Dorsey, Bitchat is an “experiment” to test Bluetooth mesh networks, offline encryption habits, and decentralized message forwarding. Already, however, it is drawing interest for its possibilities in actual use in disaster relief, protests, blackouts, or areas under tight digital surveillance.
A Tip of the Hat to the Hong Kong Protests
The origins of the app are in the same technology that protesters had been using in Hong Kong in 2019. With the net coming under close monitoring and censoring, protesters had employed local mesh-based apps to communicate and organize.
Bitchat seems to be doing that same thing with the mainstream, granting people more control of data and communications away from Big Tech infrastructure.
What Next
Dorsey will continue to add features to Bitchat such as WiFi Direct that will improve its offline functionality by making it capable of transmitting data at a faster speed over a shorter distance.
With growing international interest in web monitoring, censorship, and the security risk of centralized infrastructures, Bitchat arrives at the right moment.
It has already come out in beta and has gained developers and privacy campaigners. Source code and white paper for the software were published on GitHub, calling for open-source development.
Short of that, Bitchat is instant messaging plus—it’s Dorsey’s fresh spin on internet self-reliance and independence, allowing users to be in touch securely even when the net isn’t.”.
