Jack Dorsey Develops Bluetooth-Message Platform

Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter and Block, has developed a new peer-to-peer messaging app called Bitchat that works completely via Bluetooth.

The Big Picture: Everyone has been in a situation where cell service becomes nearly inoperable due to the sheer number of people trying to use it in a crowded area (concerts, theme parks, etc.). By allowing devices’ built-in Bluetooth to carry messages between people, an overloaded network becomes one less thing to worry about.

Behind the Messages: It’s good to be online, even when you’re offline.

• Bitchat uses the Bluetooth Low Energy mesh network to send messages without internet or cell service — that means it works without needing to make an account or rely on company servers.
• The messages can travel 984 feet, so you need to be in somewhat close proximity to whoever you’re messaging (great for when you get separated in a crowd). The range will soon be expanded via the use of Wi-Fi Direct.
• And privacy is top of mind for Dorsey — no servers means no data collection, and messages are also entirely encrypted.
• On top of that, chats can be password-protected, and users can trigger a “Panic Mode” that immediately deletes all the data of a chat.

The Future: Bitchat isn’t the first platform to try to solve network-less messaging. Bridgefy has been around for a while, FireChat was recently used by pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, and Meshtastic utilizes long-range radio nodes to relay messages across various devices. But with Dorsey at the helm, Bitchat has the best chance of breaking out. The app, which is in beta via Apple TestFlight, has already reached its 10,000-user capacity.

Prediction: Once it’s fully released, Bitchat could add an interesting wrinkle to the modern “no-service” convention in horror movies.