Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, has unveiled Bitchat, a new experimental messaging application that operates entirely over Bluetooth mesh networks, eliminating the need for internet, servers, SIM cards, phone numbers, or even email addresses.
This move marks another major step in Dorsey’s longstanding push for decentralized, privacy-preserving, and censorship-resistant technologies, following his support of platforms like Damus and Bluesky.
The app is now live in beta on TestFlight, a test version released to try out new features and fix any issues before the full app is officially launched.
App built for the offline world
According to Dorsey, Bitchat enables encrypted, peer-to-peer communication between nearby mobile devices using Bluetooth.
As people move, their devices form temporary clusters, passing messages locally from phone to phone. Messages can travel across extended distances using “bridge devices” that connect overlapping clusters.
“It’s a personal experiment in bluetooth mesh networks, relays and store and forward models, message encryption models, and a few other things.”
This structure allows the app to function without Wi-Fi or mobile service, making it particularly valuable during internet shutdowns, blackouts, or surveillance-heavy environments.
How Bitchat works
Bitchat does not store messages on central servers. Instead, all messages are stored locally on users’ devices and disappear by default echoing the principles of ephemeral messaging and user-owned communication.
The app does not require users to create accounts, meaning no personal identifiers or metadata are collected.
The app currently includes support for:
- One-on-one encrypted chats.
- Optional group messaging via rooms, protected with passwords and searchable using hashtags.
- Store and forward functionality, allowing delayed message delivery to devices that are temporarily offline.
A future version of the app will introduce WiFi Direct, a technology that will allow faster and wider communication without internet infrastructure.
What you should know
The concept draws inspiration from Bluetooth-based apps used during protests in Hong Kong in 2019, where protesters bypassed surveillance and censorship by creating local mesh networks.
- Bitchat carries this same philosophy forward, allowing communication to continue even in environments of internet suppression.
- Dorsey has long advocated for decentralization as a way to return power to users. This project builds on his backing of Damus (a decentralized social media app built on the Nostr protocol) and the creation of Bluesky, a federated alternative to Twitter.
The release of Bitchat taps into growing concerns over digital surveillance, data collection by Big Tech, and the vulnerability of centralized systems during conflicts, protests, and disasters. While still in beta testing via TestFlight for iOS users, the app’s open-source white paper is now available on GitHub, encouraging developers to study or contribute to the protocol.
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