Bitchat – A decentralized messaging app that works over Bluetooth mesh networks

Post by baobun » Thu, Jul 10, 2025, 8:45 PM UTC

jahsome wrote: post #427

baobun wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Care for some more constructive criticism?

I'll ask more directly: What's the use case and/or value proposition for the average person? I've heard about it a few times over the last 24 hours, and I'm relatively off social media, so that to me indicates a considerable buzz. But the only thing that gets headlines is "Jack did a thing!" And the readme is primarily jargon. I can't speak for GP, but it's not clear to me _why_ it's a Really Big Deal.

Post by jahsome » Thu, Jul 10, 2025, 8:48 PM UTC

theultdev wrote: post #430

jahsome wrote: post #427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll ask more directly: What's the use case and/or value proposition for the average person? I've heard about it a few times over the last 24 hours, and I'm relatively off social media, so that to me indicates a considerable buzz. But the only thing that gets headlines is "Jack did a thing!" And the readme is primarily jargon. I can't speak for GP, but it's not clear to me _why_ it's a Really Big Deal.

Bluetooth mesh chats were quite popular and effective during the Hong Kong protests. Aside from protests, I'd also say they could be useful during festivals and other events where mobile networks can get quite congested. Eventually fragments of groups will pass within range, forwarding messages to the rest, useful for coordinating rendezvous. If built into an app for the event, it would be even more effective.

Post by theultdev » Thu, Jul 10, 2025, 8:58 PM UTC

jahsome wrote: post #433

theultdev wrote: post #430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bluetooth mesh chats were quite popular and effective during the Hong Kong protests. Aside from protests, I'd also say they could be useful during festivals and other events where mobile networks can get quite congested. Eventually fragments of groups will pass within range, forwarding messages to the rest, useful for coordinating rendezvous. If built into an app for the event, it would be even more effective.

Thanks, that's helpful context!

Post by bravoetch » Thu, Jul 10, 2025, 9:02 PM UTC

JonnyReads wrote: post #428

baobun wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Care for some more constructive criticism?

Maybe I'm being overly critical. But it's nothing revolutionary or new, we've had Bluetooth mesh chat for a long time. In fact I vaguely remember seeing it as someone's a university masters project over 10 years ago. I'm more interested in the lo-ra mesh, but that's probably because it feels more mysterious to me, as I have little understanding of radio networks. Let's not even get started on the name (b*tch@). But I…

Post by theultdev » Thu, Jul 10, 2025, 9:05 PM UTC

jahsome wrote: post #438

theultdev wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A side note, airtags + iphones are effectively the largest bluetooth mesh network in the world, and they are quite useful even though only coordinates are sent.

Do you mean useful in general or useful in this specific application? If the goal is transmitting a message how do coordinates from a "read-only" device facilitate a p2p transfer?