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Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and former CEO of Twitter (now X), has announced a big update of his decentralised messaging application, BitChat. The platform, which launched last month on iOS and Android, can facilitate peer-to-peer communication without internet or cellular networks using Bluetooth Low Energy mesh.
In his recent X post, Dorsey announced that BitChat will also soon have the ability to chat about location. This feature enables users to enter conversations in other areas within close proximity, or they can virtually travel around the world into chats. The system runs on geohashes, where the world is split into chat zones, as well as giving users new pseudonyms to avoid identification. The messages are then passed on with decentralised relays, which is similar to the protocol that Dorsey has long advocated for, Nostr.
This update is being reviewed on the App Store. After getting approved, it may make BitChat more interactive and closer to the vision of Dorsey of an open chat layer to the internet. The feature is meant to help the app to come out of its introductory silent period and cause real-time conversations all over the world.
The reaction of the community to the update has been mixed but active. Other users were keen on the fact that they could use chats to communicate anywhere in the world regardless of conventional connectivity. Some stated that the platform could be too silent unless more people use it. Dorsey accepted such criticism and promised that the app just needs time to develop.
To Dorsey, this is one aspect of his initiative to create open, private and decentralised networks. The possibility to combine location-based interactivity and global accessibility could help the app become a unique experiment in the sphere of digital communication. Whether it will take off henceforth will depend on the rate at which it will be adopted by users.
