Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey has launched a decentralised messaging app to take on WhatsApp and make communication possible without internet access.
Dorsey, who stepped down as CEO in 2021, wrote on social media that he had launched BitChat, a messaging network that works over Bluetooth networks, for beta testing over the weekend.
The app is designed to use Bluetooth mesh networks, where each device nearby works as a client and a server and can send and receive messages without the need for conventional WiFi or mobile phone data.
Dorsey said more than 10,000 people downloaded the app through TestFlight, an application that lets users test apps before they are publicly released.
“BitChat addresses the need for resilient, private communication that doesn't depend on centralised infrastructure,” Dorsey said in a white paper.
He described the app as providing “ephemeral, encrypted communication without relying on internet infrastructure”.
The app offers several layers of encryption and features that make it possible to deliver messages to users who are temporarily offline, meaning the app will work despite any “network outages and censorship” that users may encounter, according to the white paper.
This network will be able to automatically reconnect if dropped.
The app also gives users the ability to create group chats that can be password-protected and named with hashtags.
A later update of the app will include WiFi Direct to increase the speed and range with which users can send messages to each other, Dorsey said.
