Jack Dorsey's Bluetooth Messaging App Bitchat Now On App Store

Jack Dorsey's new app Bitchat is now available on the iOS App Store. The decentralized, peer-to-peer messaging app uses Bluetooth mesh networks for encrypted, ephemeral chats without requiring accounts, servers, or internet access. Dorsey said he built it over a weekend and cautioned that it "has not received external security review and may contain vulnerabilities..." TechCrunch reports: The app's UX is very minimal. There is no log-in system, and you're immediately brought to an instant messaging box, where you can see what nearby users are saying (if anyone is actually around you and using the app) and set your display name, which can be changed at any time. [...] Dorsey has not directly addressed the fake Bitchat apps on the Google Play store, but he did repost another user's X post that said that Bitchat is not yet on Google Play, and to "beware of fakes."

But the real question on everyone's mind...

[Digital Avatar]

...is it "bit-chat" or "bitch-at"?

Re:But the real question on everyone's mind...

[Mal-2]

You just know it will get called the latter, just like Capital One (Cap It Alone), Experts Exchange (put the space before the "s"), Parts Express (same), and Pen Island (do I really have to spell this one out?). In this case (and I suspect in Pen Island's case) this is not by accident. The name was chosen because it can be corrupted in a humorous way.

Re:

[dinfinity]

Honestly, I think this app will fade away into oblivion so fast that people won't call it anything.

Re:

[_merlin]

Reference to the old IRC client BitchX [wikipedia.org]?

Re:

[Xarius]

I used to work for a European energy company called Powergen.

Their Italian division had the interesting domain name of powergenitalia.com -- don't visit it now though! It goes somewhere else!

Re:

[Mal-2]

I would have brought up Powergen Italia if it hadn't already been debunked [slashdot.org]. There is such a company, but they sell batteries. This was documented over 20 years ago.

Re:But the real question on everyone's mind...

[EvilSS]

I'm just calling it Bitch@

Re:

[The-Ixian]

So, "Bitch Splat" it is

Re: But the real question on everyone's mind...

[diffract]

Me looking for the app: where's my bitch at?

Re:

[Xaide]

Haven't you always wanted to bitchat the driver on their phone who just cut you off?

where is that bitch

[roman_mir]

at?

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

I give this app three days, at most, before it's banned for some arbitrary political reason.

Re:

[Xarius]

How would it be banned? If it is decentralised--most people who care about this sort of thing know how to sideload an app.

Meshtastic

[blackomegax]

I'd rather use Meshtastic. 915mhz range not 10 foot BTLE, and sounds like the exact same deal.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

You can get a meshtastic dongle for like 20 bucks you clueless twit. The range of that is 1 mile and bounces from node to node so you can text just about anywhere in your city to anywhere else in your city. Compared to bluetooth low energy which only gives you 10-20 meters of range and certainly won't let you text long distance.

Re:

[WaffleMonster]

You can get a meshtastic dongle for like 20 bucks you clueless twit. The range of that is 1 mile and bounces from node to node so you can text just about anywhere in your city to anywhere else in your city. Compared to bluetooth low energy which only gives you 10-20 meters of range and certainly won't let you text long distance.

Bluetooth is good for about a half mile LOS in ideal conditions using coded PHY. Not nearly as good as LoRa but not terrible.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

915mHz? Are you communicating with submarines?!

Re:

[WaffleMonster]

I'd rather use Meshtastic. 915mhz range not 10 foot BTLE, and sounds like the exact same deal.

If you want secure local communications for example a cruise ship (WiFi), airplane or camping in BFE Briar is a good option... Bluetooth coded PHY isn't terrible. Otherwise I agree Meshtastic is a better fit for longer range and the hardware is basically free.

So what is this about?

[bickerdyke]

It's hard to believe that after 25 years of Bluetooth, he is the first one to come up with a Bluetooth chat app.

Yes, it's impressive to write that over one weekend, so yes, his status as Rockstar developer is probably justified, but what's new about that app? Even with a mesh, bluetooth range is not that impressive to be useful for anything where privacy/secrecy would matter as the recipient could probably WATCH the sender typing the message on his screen.....

Is there any promise that bitchat has that goes

Re:

[bill_mcgonigle]

It's hard to get anybody to use Briar since you must unlock every single time, no choice. I briefly considered running a local fork in-house without that requirement so others would use it.

And Meshtastic needs hardware.

This all reminds me of Broadcast that supported LocalTalk Phase I *and" Phase II.

circa, what, 1988?

Maybe Bluetooth 6 will have enough range to be useful?

This is new?

[anoncoward69]

Don't apps like this already exist? I remember during the plandemic people were suggesting apps like this in case the world infrastructure collapsed.

Seems legit...

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

I, for one, totally distrust The Man enough to roll the dice on tech Rasputin's "it's, like, secure; but nobody qualified has checked" option.

Cellphone ban

[Stephenmg]

Another reason for schools to ban cellphones.

Bars and Airplanes

[Mean Variance]

I can only think of a few uses either for a purpose or random fun. I used to have an app from early iPhone days called AirChat that was bluetooth chat. I only used it once when the family was split up on an airplane. This was before all the airlines opened up basic messaging apps. It worked pretty well, but that was it. I think it's gone now.

I could see random chats from fun to weird to creepy -- mostly the latter when solo in a bar.

What else given that we're all on wifi and pretty solid cell networks. Heck even basic satellite messaging works now too.

Re:

[technology_dude]

Maybe during protests or other gatherings where instant, anonymous communications about threats and conditions would help save lives?