No internet? No WhatsApp? Here’s Bitchat from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey

Twitter co-founder and Bluesky founder Jack Dorsey announced a WhatsApp-like messenger on Monday, which is offline and relies on Bluetooth technology. 

Announcing the project, Dorsey wrote, “My weekend project to learn about Bluetooth mesh networks, relays, store and forward models, message encryption models, and a few other things – Bitchat: Bluetooth mesh chat.”

Since it works with Bluetooth, the app will work during internet shutdowns, outages, or restrictions.

However, the range mentioned now is only 300 metres, which can improve based on mesh density and with future updates.

According to a whitepaper shared by Dorsey, Bitchat is a decentralised, peer-to-peer messaging application that operates over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) mesh networks. 

“It provides ephemeral, encrypted communication without relying on internet infrastructure, making it resilient to network outages and censorship. This whitepaper details the technical architecture, protocols, and privacy mechanisms that enable secure, decentralised communication,” said the whitepaper.

The whitepaper listed Bitchat’s features as–

Decentralised, meaning no servers or infrastructure dependencies

Ephemeral, which means messages exist only in device memory by default

WhatsApp-like end-to-end encryption for private messages

No phone numbers, emails, or permanent identifiers required

Some other features shared on X by Dorsey–

Offline communication: Works without internet using Bluetooth mesh networking

Extended range: Messages relayed through peers, reaching 300m+

Favourites system: Store-and-forward messages for favourites indefinitely

Mentions: Use @nickname to notify specific users

Rooms: Create #rooms for topic-based conversations (like WhatsApp groups) and secure rooms with passwords and AES encryption

How it works

Bitchat implements a “custom mesh networking protocol over BLE, where each device acts as both a central (client) and peripheral (server), enabling multi-hop message delivery”.

Each device advertises as a BLE peripheral with the Bitchat service UUID, then it scans for other devices advertising the same service. The device connects to discovered peers as a central, and maintains simultaneous connections as both central and peripheral.