You'd need to do something pretty radical to dethrone WhatsApp in the instant messaging world, yet Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey believes he's captured that spark with an unorthodox rival that doesn't require any internet connection.
Security and privacy has become one of the primary concerns held by social media users across the last few years especially, and this was highlighted in the outrage of WhatsApp users when speculating that the new AI tools would breach end-to-end encryption.
With so many of the tech world's biggest names becoming innately involved in the political world, there has emerged a market for people who wish to disconnect and decentralize their online actions, which is part of the reason behind the success of Twitter rival Bluesky - founded by Jack Dorsey himself.
Now Dorsey is back with another unorthodox alternative, this time targeting WhatsApp, as he has presented his new project 'bitchat' to the world and it has a number of unique and unexpected features, as reported by CNBC.
What is bitchat?
Unlike pretty much any other private messaging service out there, bitchat doesn't require an internet connection and functions (at least at the moment) entirely via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) mesh networking.
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It offers a direct peer-to-peer service without any oversight or interference from an ownership company, and relies on no connection meaning that you can use it even when internet services are blocked.
It is being championed as both a highly private service and one that fights against censorship, which certainly makes it an attractive option when placed next to potential rivals like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or even the new Chat functionality on X.
You don't even need to have an account and your phone number isn't tied to the service in any way, making it an ideal option if you want to remain off the grid for whatever reason.
How does bitchat work?
Understandably, you might be wondering how that could possibly work, and it does come with some caveats and compromises. While you might think that a Bluetooth connection would severely limit who you can actually connect to and communicate with, Bluetooth Mesh is actually far more proficient.
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There is still a physical proximity limit that can change depending on where you are, but Bluetooth Mesh uses other capable devices to carry your messages to their intended destination, described best by the whitepaper published by Dorsey himself:
"bitchat implements a custom mesh networking protocol over BLE, where each device acts as both a central (client) and peripheral (server), enabling multi-hop message delivery."
As mentioned it remains peer-to-peer with complete end-to-end encryption, easing any privacy concerns, and local clusters stretching around 30 meters in range are connected by bridges if overlapping with other eligible clusters.
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It is planned that support for WiFi Direct will be added in a future update, increasing speeds overall and extending the range, but right now it's limited to the capabilities of Bluetooth Mesh.
Can you download bitchat now?
Right now bitchat is only available as a beta through TestFlight, with no indication of when the app will be officially released to the public, but considering the state of progress you'd imagine it will be sooner rather than later.
Many remain eager to test it out once it does drop though, with one user on Reddit outlining that it "seems tailor made for resistance movements, good stuff."