Jack Dorsey, the visionary tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Twitter, has taken another bold step toward a decentralized digital future with the launch of Bitchat—an experimental, privacy-first messaging application that functions entirely without the internet or mobile networks. Now available in beta via Apple’s TestFlight, the app is positioned as a radical reimagining of mobile communication in an era marked by increasing concerns over surveillance, censorship, and centralization.

Built for an Offline, Privacy-Centric World

Bitchat is engineered to operate over Bluetooth mesh networks, allowing users to send encrypted messages directly between nearby mobile devices. The app requires no internet, no servers, no SIM cards, no email addresses, and no phone numbers. In essence, it strips messaging down to its most essential, decentralized form—offering a blueprint for how people can communicate in environments where traditional infrastructure fails or is deliberately shut down.

“This is a personal experiment in Bluetooth mesh networks, relays and store-and-forward models, message encryption models, and a few other things,” Dorsey said, highlighting Bitchat’s experimental nature while underscoring its potential real-world impact.

How Bitchat Works

At its core, Bitchat leverages Bluetooth to create ephemeral, peer-to-peer communication clusters. As users move through space, their devices automatically connect and disconnect from nearby devices, forming a temporary mesh network. Messages can hop from phone to phone, traveling across larger distances through “bridge devices” that connect overlapping clusters of users.

The app introduces several key features:

• End-to-end encrypted one-on-one chats

• Group messaging via password-protected “rooms” searchable with hashtags

• Store-and-forward capability, enabling delivery of messages to users who were offline when the message was sent

• No user accounts or centralized identifiers, meaning no data harvesting, tracking, or metadata collection

Messages are stored locally on the device and disappear by default, aligning with the principles of ephemeral messaging and complete user control.

Dorsey has also hinted at plans to include WiFi Direct in future updates, which will significantly boost the range and speed of communication without requiring any internet connectivity.

Inspired by Protest Technology

The inspiration behind Bitchat can be traced back to Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy protests, where activists relied on Bluetooth-based mesh apps like Bridgefy to communicate securely and anonymously. These technologies became essential as the Chinese government increased surveillance and imposed internet restrictions.

By reviving and enhancing that concept, Bitchat aims to empower individuals in crisis zones, authoritarian regimes, and remote areas, giving them a reliable, censorship-resistant way to stay connected—even when the internet goes dark.

A Continuation of Dorsey’s Decentralization Vision

Jack Dorsey’s involvement with Bitchat aligns with his broader push for decentralization and user-owned platforms. He has been a vocal supporter of projects like:

• Damus, a decentralized social network based on the Nostr protocol

• Bluesky, a federated social media platform initially incubated inside Twitter but now an independent alternative to legacy networks

• Bitcoin and blockchain technologies, which Dorsey believes are foundational for a more open and user-empowered digital economy

Bitchat continues this trajectory by taking the bold step of removing internet dependency altogether, focusing on resilient communication tools that work under extreme conditions.

Open Source and Community Involvement

Although still in its early stages and only available on iOS via TestFlight, Bitchat is open source, with its white paper and protocol documentation available on GitHub. Dorsey is encouraging developers, cryptographers, and privacy advocates to study, test, and contribute to the project.

This approach not only supports transparency but also ensures that the underlying technology can evolve through collaborative development, rather than being controlled by a single corporate entity.

The Bigger Picture: A Response to Growing Digital Threats

Bitchat’s release comes at a time when trust in Big Tech is waning, with users increasingly wary of:

• Mass surveillance

• Widespread data collection

• Censorship and algorithmic manipulation

• Vulnerabilities in centralized systems during conflicts, protests, and natural disasters

By removing the need for traditional communication infrastructure, Bitchat could become a lifeline for journalists, activists, aid workers, and ordinary citizens in times of crisis.

Limitations and Future Outlook

While the app is promising, it’s still in beta and limited to iOS users, which narrows its immediate adoption potential. Battery consumption, limited range of Bluetooth communication (typically 10–30 meters), and message delivery delays in the absence of nearby bridge devices are challenges that may need further optimization.

However, the planned rollout of WiFi Direct support could resolve some of these issues by increasing speed and range significantly.

Conclusion

Bitchat is not just an app—it’s a statement. In a world where connectivity often comes with surveillance, and freedom of speech can be algorithmically throttled or censored, Jack Dorsey is once again building tools that prioritize freedom, privacy, and resilience.

With Bitchat, users are no longer at the mercy of centralized infrastructure. Communication returns to a user-controlled, encrypted, and anonymous process. While it may be early days for this Bluetooth mesh network experiment, its potential in shaping the future of secure, offline communication is already resonating with a global audience.

As the world continues to grapple with digital authoritarianism, disasters, and conflict, tools like Bitchat may prove to be essential, not just for privacy advocates, but for anyone seeking a secure, infrastructure-independent way to connect.