Bitchat, the app for no internet is available on the App Store: how to download it and use it

A New app for iPhone Allows you to send messages without using the Internet, Wi-Fi or cellular network. Is called Bitchatwas developed as an open source project from Jack Dorsey -Twitter co-founder (the social now known as X)-and is now officially available on the App Store. It works through bluetooth Low Energya short -range technology that allows two neighboring devices to communicate directly to each other. Each message goes from one user to another without intermediaries and comes End-to-end encryptedmaking communications readable only by the sender and the recipient. To make the message reach the app, the app creates a real mesh networkthat is, a “knitted” network where every node (ie each smartphone) can transmit data to others, creating a sort of decentralized communication chain.

Despite some limits – such as the limited radius of about 30 meters and a temporary bug in the iOS version that prevents the connection with Android – Bitchat devices represents a useful alternative in the absence of connectivity or in contexts where privacy is crucial. In this deepening we already explain to you to download it for free from the App Store and start experimenting it. In this article we explain to you How to download and use Bitchat on iPhone.

How Bitchat works and what it is for

Before going on the practical, let’s take a small step back and see How Bitchat works. Its main feature is the total absence of external infrastructures: no cloud, servers, telephone numbers or e-mails to access. The strength of the mesh network is that messages can “travel” from one device to another, propagating even more than 30 meters If there are intermediate users who act as a “bridge”. It is a useful solution in situations where the network is absent or unreliable: hiking in the mountains, large concerts or sporting events with saturated telephone cells, blackout or, in more extreme cases, emergency scenarios, such as natural disasters, conflicts and the like.

It must be said that at the moment the app really works only if you are in the company of others who use it. In Italy, thanks to the low initial diffusion, it could be difficult to fully test the potential of the mesh network, especially outside the most populated urban areas. Furthermore, Communication between iOS and Android devices is not yet available due to a resolution bug.

Those who use Android must also pay attention: the versions advertised on the Play Store are not official. The only safe way to try in Bitchat preview on Android is download the apk (a type of file to install apps manually) from the official page on GitHub, the developer portal where Dorsey uploaded the project code. We suggest you do this only if you are an expert users.

Bitchat does not want to replace WhatsApp, Telegram or the like. It is designed for environments where you cannot – or do not want to – use the internet. This decentralized approach and without collection of data can also be interesting for those who care about the confidentiality of communications and privacy. There are no traces, there is no advertising, every interaction takes place only between the devices involved and the confidentiality of the communications is also given by the fact that the app signals when its interlocutor makes a screenshot of the conversation.

How to download and use Bitchat on iPhone

If you decide to Download and use Bitchat on iPhonejust download the application from the App Store, start the app and follow the wizard to start using it. You can make up for the following steps.

1. Open theApp Storetouch the voice Near (below right), type “Bitchat Mesh” And select the correct result to go to the app download page.
2. Tap the button Get/install and finalize the download.
3. Start the app touching Open.
4. Grant the app on the app allowed to find neighboring Bluetooth devices (indispensable permit for the correct functioning of Bitchat).
5. When you open Bitchat for the first time, you will automatically be assigned a random identification (type @anon12345) that, if you want, you can freely modify by touching the default (at the top) and typing on the keyboard the Personalized nickname.
6. To find other users, just touch the icon of Two men At the top right: the list of devices will appear nearby on which Bitchat is running. By touching one, a direct and encrypted chat session opens.
7. Type the message you intend to send to the device close to you in the text field Type a Message. . . and send it by touching the symbol ⬆︎.
8. To mention a user, just type @ followed by his nickname.
9. To delete all the data in chat it is possible to resort to the so -called “Panic mode” performing three fast touches On the chat.

ATTENTION: On the presentation page of the app, reachable by touching the wording “Bitchat” (above), it is expressly specified that “The safety of private messages has not yet been fully verified. Do not use in critical situations until this warning disappears». So watch out for what you write in the Bitchat chats, at least for the moment.