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Bitchat – A decentralized messaging app that works over Bluetooth mesh networks

(github.com)
770 points ananddtyagi | 27 comments | 07 Jul 25 00:05 UTC | HN request time: 1.434s | source | bottom
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lxgr ◴[07 Jul 25 00:34 UTC] No.44485515[source]▶
Very nice! Could this be published in the App Store, or does it use any APIs Apple considers off-limits?

I'm regularly frustrated by modern phone's complete inabilities to allow any communication when outside of mobile network or Wi-Fi coverage, not even within the two large walled gardens.

It would be so easy for Apple to extend iMessage to work peer-to-peer, at least between people that have already messaged each other before and while both screens are on. That's literally how AirDrop works, and having to send a "Notes" text back and forth is just silly.

replies(3): >>44485812 #>>44486152 #>>44488069 #
1. apetresc ◴[07 Jul 25 02:24 UTC] No.44486152[source]▶
Legit curious what the use case would be, that would justify Apple adding it in. Like, when do you need to text someone who's within Bluetooth range but somehow has no WiFi or cell reception?
replies(11): >>44486183 #>>44486237 #>>44486306 #>>44486315 #>>44486381 #>>44486411 #>>44486424 #>>44486630 #>>44487729 #>>44494531 #>>44505574 #
2. darknavi ◴[07 Jul 25 02:29 UTC] No.44486183[source]▶
Airplane
replies(2): >>44486213 #>>44486363 #
3. woleium ◴[07 Jul 25 02:33 UTC] No.44486213[source]▶
and the reason they probably cite as why they don’t, children with no sim or wifi.
replies(1): >>44487369 #
4. dewey ◴[07 Jul 25 02:37 UTC] No.44486237[source]▶
On top of that “It would be so easy” is almost never true for a billion users network with all kinds of edge cases. Seems like a very narrow use case when there’s things missing from iMessage that could be way more appealing for a bigger group of users.
replies(1): >>44486562 #
5. __MatrixMan__ ◴[07 Jul 25 02:52 UTC] No.44486306[source]▶
When you're at a protest and the government shuts off the internet in response to the protest. It's happening right now in Togo, has been for ten days (https://pulse.internetsociety.org/en/shutdowns/).
replies(2): >>44486456 #>>44500108 #
6. c22 ◴[07 Jul 25 02:55 UTC] No.44486315[source]▶
When would you want to peer over third party networks while a direct connection is possible?
7. nabeards ◴[07 Jul 25 03:04 UTC] No.44486363[source]▶
I use Berkanan for just this purpose. Sometimes my partner and I don’t sit next to each other, and it’s an easy way to message.
8. reaperducer ◴[07 Jul 25 03:08 UTC] No.44486381[source]▶
when do you need to text someone who's within Bluetooth range but somehow has no WiFi or cell reception?

There's no cell service or wifi at my neighborhood movie theater. If I could send her a message when she's up, I could tell my wife to bring me back a box of Sno-caps.

9. ImPostingOnHN ◴[07 Jul 25 03:12 UTC] No.44486411[source]▶
When you're sufficiently outdoors with friends and/or family
10. vishnugupta ◴[07 Jul 25 03:15 UTC] No.44486424[source]▶
Hiking, Airplane, stadia (here in India the tower capacity get exhausted), underground metro etc
replies(2): >>44487129 #>>44488028 #
11. Buttons840 ◴[07 Jul 25 03:22 UTC] No.44486456[source]▶
My eyes are opened as to how much more power the people would have if cell phones were all mesh network devices, especially as we enter a world where having a working cell phone is easier than having running water or food.
replies(1): >>44486721 #
12. lxgr ◴[07 Jul 25 03:44 UTC] No.44486562[source]▶
I’d agree if Airdrop, which includes offline identification via users’ address books, didn’t already exist. That seems to be by far the hardest part.
replies(1): >>44486702 #
13. 3eb7988a1663 ◴[07 Jul 25 04:00 UTC] No.44486630[source]▶
Maybe you want to have a local conversation about Winnie the Pooh?
14. dewey ◴[07 Jul 25 04:14 UTC] No.44486702{3}[source]▶
The technical details are often not the tricky part of new features. You have to integrate it into the existing app that people know and use, explain how it works, maintain it forever etc.
replies(1): >>44489936 #
15. __MatrixMan__ ◴[07 Jul 25 04:19 UTC] No.44486721{3}[source]▶
I'm not holding my breath--it would seem that keeping the people down is more profitable.

But if it happens we'll have to figure out how to write partition tolerant apps, which I think would be a lot of fun. It would also make "going viral" so much more apt, as you might catch the content from people you got physically close to.

16. ◴[07 Jul 25 05:42 UTC] No.44487129[source]▶
17. darkwater ◴[07 Jul 25 06:40 UTC] No.44487369{3}[source]▶
It would be trivial to be disabled by iParents
18. ileonichwiesz ◴[07 Jul 25 07:48 UTC] No.44487729[source]▶
This is admittedly a rare and minor use case, but maybe on a plane if you’re not sitting next to each other? Last time I flew I saw two teenage girls communicating by typing into the same note file and Airdropping it back and forth for hours - it struck me as very silly that there was no messaging interface that they could use instead.
19. subscribed ◴[07 Jul 25 08:34 UTC] No.44488028[source]▶
Hiking? Probably not very useful since you must be within Bluetooth range and you can whisper to your chat partner.

If you're hiking in the remote area youre much better off with LoRaWAN or amateur radio transceivers anyway.

replies(2): >>44489921 #>>44494055 #
20. lxgr ◴[07 Jul 25 12:57 UTC] No.44489921{3}[source]▶
“Coded PHY” Bluetooth has a range of up to a kilometer! Once you add mesh forwarding, you could probably cover quite some distance on moderately busy hikes.
21. lxgr ◴[07 Jul 25 12:59 UTC] No.44489936{4}[source]▶
“With iOS xx, now you can message your loved ones even without any cell or Wi-Fi signal from up to a mile away! Simply make sure you already have an iMessage conversation with them started while you still have signal.”
22. bee_rider ◴[07 Jul 25 19:57 UTC] No.44494055{3}[source]▶
I dunno, I bet if it was widespread people could come up with applications. Like, telling people doesn’t necessarily leave a record, so you could talk about tomorrow’s plans and then send a summary text so everyone has a record and all the details.
23. sunnybeetroot ◴[07 Jul 25 20:47 UTC] No.44494531[source]▶
Apple added support for this 10 years ago

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/multipeerconnectiv...

24. apetresc ◴[08 Jul 25 14:06 UTC] No.44500108[source]▶
I dunno, that still sounds like a perfect use case for a third-party app like the one this post is about. I'm not sure government crackdowns are a core enough experience that it needs a first-party app from Apple.
replies(1): >>44505436 #
25. immibis ◴[09 Jul 25 01:10 UTC] No.44505436{3}[source]▶
They happen regularly in the USA and Europe now.
replies(1): >>44513724 #
26. immibis ◴[09 Jul 25 01:37 UTC] No.44505574[source]▶
This happens at festivals - despite being largely offline events, you still want to text your friends "hey I'm over at <place>", but the one rural cell that's usually empty for 362 days out of the year is getting DDoSed by 50000 people suddenly arriving one weekend.
27. apetresc ◴[09 Jul 25 19:08 UTC] No.44513724{4}[source]▶
Government shutdowns of the internet happen "regularly" in the USA? Name one time.