Bitchat Bluetooth Messaging App: Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter (now X), has rolled out a new messaging app called Bitchat. This new application is designed to work entirely without an internet connection or mobile network. Unlike WhatsApp and Telegram, which require an active internet connection, Bitchat uses Bluetooth to send and receive messages. It also doesn’t require a phone number, email, or even an account.
The messages are end-to-end encrypted and disappear by default. Nothing is stored on a central server, and the app collects no personal data. Adding further, the app is now available in beta via TestFlight, and Dorsey has released a technical whitepaper detailing the architecture on GitHub. It is a decentralised platform, which means it has no central servers.
Bitchat: How It Works
Bitchat works like torrents, using a decentralized peer-to-peer system. It lets nearby Bluetooth-enabled devices send encrypted messages to each other. If someone is offline, the app can save the message and deliver it later when they’re back in range. This is helpful for people who lose connection for a while. In the future, Dorsey plans to add Wi-Fi Direct support to make messages travel faster and reach farther.
Bitchat: Messaging Range
Bluetooth typically has a short range of about 100 meters, which may limit the app’s direct communication. However, Dorsey claims Bitchat can relay messages across multiple devices, extending the effective range up to 300 meters through its peer-to-peer network.
Bitchat Privacy Features
It offers strong privacy features such as opt-in-only bridging, which prevents unwanted connections, channel-level permission controls to manage access, and cryptographic identity isolation to keep user identities secure and separate across different channels and interactions.