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A decentralized peer-to-peer messaging application that operates over Bluetooth

bitchat.free

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Re: A decentralized peer-to-peer messaging application that operates over Bluetooth

#141

Post by 6510 »

fc417fc802 wrote: post #113
maqp wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I can imagine a jam-packed cruise ship might be useful provided the signal propagates from deck to another (unlikely), but it's quite a niché use case. >Also why would one want to have the data go over some servers thousands miles away when the device is right next to you? Why would that matter? Use Signal to protect the content, or use Cwtch to protect content and metadata. If you need to exchange secret commun…

> Why would that matter? Reliability? Why should we want to centralize things unnecessarily? It's nice as a fallback but then so too is P2P.

If your message goes though my infrastructure I can shut it down when I feel like it but even if I really don't want to do that I still might be forced by other parties commercial, private and state owned.

You shouldn't need any kind of permission to send a picture to your mum sitting next to you on the sofa.

Re: A decentralized peer-to-peer messaging application that operates over Bluetooth

#142

Post by 6510 »

mlrtime wrote: post #104
zenmac wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of these bluetooth messaging app was made by a developer who was on a cruise ship with family, and the Internet over satellite costs an arm and leg. So he wrote an app to communicate with his families over bluetooth. Also why would one want to have the data go over some servers thousands miles away when the device is right next to you? Seems like bluetooth is the perfect way to communicate for devices that are cl…

On a cruise ship, isn't the cheap walkie talkies still a thing? Or did those die with cell phones? For me the cell phone without internet is almost useless, not much I can do on it, might as well sue a purpose built device. They're also very cheap. Even better if Nextel still worked on phones (but without service).

The boat could do a captive portal and provide it's own LAN?

Re: A decentralized peer-to-peer messaging application that operates over Bluetooth

#144

Post by Angostura »

nicois wrote: post #26

One missing feature: deferred message propagation. As far as I understand, while messages will be rebroadcast until a TTL is exhausted, there is no mechanism to retain in-transit messages and retransmit them to future peers. While this adds overheads, it's table stakes for real-life usage. You should be able to write a message and not rely on the recipient being available when you press send. You should also be able…

Is the issue with this that mobile OSs - iOS in particular are rather aggressive about shutting down apps in the background after a while?

Re: A decentralized peer-to-peer messaging application that operates over Bluetooth

#145

Post by ostacke »

IshKebab wrote: post #136
lxgr wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bluetooth 5 introduced "coded PHY", which allows ranges of over 1 km in ideal conditions. As I understand it, adding support for this wouldn't even require new hardware for most recent phones. The real obstacles here are political, not technical, as evidenced by the complete absence of any built-in solution that could be so useful in both everyday life (messaging a family member on the same plane when sitting separat…

Huh I didn't know about that. Seems like it uses 8 symbols per bit to increase the range (but I would very seriously doubt you ever get close to 1km except in super ideal "both in a field in the middle of nowhere" scenarios that never actually happen. Apparently it's an optional part of Bluetooth 5, so not necessarily supported. However I just checked my phone (Pixel 8) and it is supported. You can check in the nRF C…

It falls quite close to the "super ideal scenarios" you described, but Nordic did a real world test and got a range of 1300 m using coded phy.

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/nordic/nordic-blog/b/blog/pos...

Re: A decentralized peer-to-peer messaging application that operates over Bluetooth

#146

Post by 6510 »

immibis wrote: post #125
repelsteeltje wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That depends on where your live (and when), but: Protest is the cornerstone of democracy and in general you shouldn't need permission to organize a demonstration. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/can-democracy-exist-witho...

Name three currently existing democracies. USA is out (protests illegal), Europe is out (protests require registration which is denied for anything that has a risk of effecting change), the Middle East and Asia are out for obvious reasons. Maybe there's a democracy somewhere in Africa?

Things like this would make a good hamburger index of freedom.

Re: A decentralized peer-to-peer messaging application that operates over Bluetooth

#147

Post by Philip-J-Fry »

This feels like something Apple should do with iPhones.

Find My and air tags was already a huge success because of the ubiquitous nature of iPhones.

Apple could add this to iPhone, sell it as privacy focussed. Let you message anyone in your iMessage contacts with a new bubble colour. Propagate over Bluetooth when you don't have internet.

I can see a snazzy Apple reveal for this showcasing it's use on a cruise ship, in a packed stadium, and then for the meme factor, 2 astronauts on a space walk. It writes itself.

Re: A decentralized peer-to-peer messaging application that operates over Bluetooth

#148

Post by ifwinterco »

fc417fc802 wrote: post #137
ifwinterco wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry I should be clearer: I think it actually might be feasible in a high population density area and if everyone uses it, but because of the limited range of bluetooth you really do need a high density of active nodes for it to work reliably. A messaging system that often takes hours or days to get messages to the receiver is fairly useless and people will continue to prefer centralised systems, so there's a severe…

There's no reason a mesh network can't use an internet connection as a transport when it's available. Moreover a P2P capable mesh can even make use of a centralized server in such scenarios. At the end of the day it's "just" a message routing and delivery problem. When I enable WiFi calling on my phone that doesn't preclude it connecting to a cell tower.

True, maybe a hybrid approach could work. That's an interesting idea

Re: A decentralized peer-to-peer messaging application that operates over Bluetooth

#150

Post by spockz »

Philip-J-Fry wrote: post #147

This feels like something Apple should do with iPhones. Find My and air tags was already a huge success because of the ubiquitous nature of iPhones. Apple could add this to iPhone, sell it as privacy focussed. Let you message anyone in your iMessage contacts with a new bubble colour. Propagate over Bluetooth when you don't have internet. I can see a snazzy Apple reveal for this showcasing it's use on a cruise ship, i…

Wouldn’t that bring the wrath of mobile carriers around the world on their back?

If there is a decentralised system that doesn’t require infrastructure , what is left to monetise?

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