Doesn't really get any downloads, so not sure there's much demand for this - but I use it with some shokz bone conducting headphones for talking to my wife when we're cycling (also for wrangling our two small girls)
Doesn't really get any downloads, so not sure there's much demand for this - but I use it with some shokz bone conducting headphones for talking to my wife when we're cycling (also for wrangling our two small girls)
It works best if there's 3 phones though - as it can route via the other if a link drops.
Might be more reasonable to use higher bandwidth, lower latency codecs over bluetooth as well?
(See: https://old.reddit.com/r/Briar/comments/gxiffy/what_exactly_...
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43363031 }
Anyway, -Question: I take it Murmur is end to end encrypted fully? Also, just curious if this is open source?
This could become SUPER useful- having a actual mesh networking Bluetooth app , if it's open source/E2EE!
Also, I could see it as a useful tool in emergency situations. But a lot of people would need to use it to be actually useful.
I wonder if there's a home lab / self hosted solution for this.
If it's open source, I would love to help.
I will give your app a try.
I don't think so.
Was trying to keep things simple though - the separate server seemed a step too far for most people I talked to about it.
For example, this completes with motorcycle communicators such as Sena. That dedicated hardware can be over $400. If your app is as easy to use as a Sena device and you market it to bikers looking for a cheaper alternative you'll get users.
I've used these[0] in the past and they worked ok. I lost the pair I bought when traveling and thought using the plethora of radios I have with me anyway on my phone with an earbud headphone would be much better replacement. Would be great for group rides to just send an app link instead of suggesting they all buy $100 hardware.
Honestly I think a well marketed and polished commercial app would have both Sena and Cardo[1] both quite existentially scared.
[0]: https://www.sena.com/en-us/product/pi/ [1]: https://cardosystems.com/
Sena or Cardo work in 2.4 Ghz (ISM) range as well, but as a class 1 devices, which with 100mW (20 dBm), they can allow for maximum range in excess of 1 mile.
I'd use Walkie - talkies (PMR 446 MHz, about half of a mile of the range in the town) before resorting to the smartphone bluetooth. Likely only feasible on the parking.
Smartphone bluetooth is fine for two bicycles but it does NOT compete with a purpose-built hardware, especially not with the top makers like Cardo or Sena, LOL.
They're not really a competition.
Purpose-built hardware is Class 1 (much stronger, 100 mW/20dBm vs 2.4mW/4dBm), and they can use sophisticated protocols to keep the connection stable. And that's Bluetooth.
If they're not playing Bluetooth but go general ISM, they can emit whole 1W on 2.4GHz or 915 MHz.
They're not really alike.
For one rider to one rider you can get a very decent set well under $100 (Lexin b4fm, FredConn, even Thokwok is well reviewed).
Decide which one is it.
PS Motorola talkabout T62 or T42 - small, light, reliable. Retevis h777: sturdy, reliable. You can just drop them in the bag.
Or 2 metres from the window a mile from Hammersmith. If not for WiFi calling I'd have to leave my phones on the windowsill.
The audio codec on ble is more modern too.
> “You can't even hear a ok quality music further than 20 metres away” That smells like the SBC codec running on Bluetooth classic to me. Very different tech.
For my use, I'd like to be able to join and monitor multiple groups at once (cameras, presenters, certain others individually), and select which I talk to (including being able to talk to several or all groups at once).
Another feature idea, if you are out of range, it would be good if there was an option to save the message until you come back and replay it.
Re. Messages - if you're not in range, as long as you don't leave the call, it'll send as soon as you reconnect. Messages are not currently persisted to a database though (- unsure if that's a feature or not?). I'd wanted to hold off on that until I was sure I'd covered everything I needed for the schema - they're currently encoded with ITA-2 (which is why some punctuation and emoticons go missing) - but I've made some improvements to the protocol, and intend to move to UTF-8 for broader character/language support.
The current protocol is very much designed to work around all the ways streaming audio really isn't a good fit for Bluetooth LE GATT. It does things which don't really make sense for messages, so I'm intending to separate messages from the live call.
The current focus is trying to make it play a little better with wireless headphones though. I started the app back in the days when phones had 3.5mm headphone jacks. If you've an Android phone and can use LE Audio headphones - they work much better, but wired headphones work best.