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4 months ago
1
hi all. thank you for being part of this project. a bit of a background, and some notes on the path forward.
i did this as a weekend project to understand a few technologies: bluetooth mesh, store and forward and relay models, and various encryption models. this was one part of a series of challenges i've given myself: to build something every day that i didn't think i was capable of, and that i didn't think the current set of AI tools were capable of, namely block's tool goose (https://block.github.io/goose/). i'm always surprised at how much...just works. we have a new way of programming now, with an entirely new language and compiler: english and intelligence models.
the original goal for this project was to create a simple app, ala firechat, that allows people to communicate locally without needing to know someone else's phone number, email, or @name. think classrooms, airplanes, town squares, restaurants. it's the side-groupchat. it worked within a day. so i added private messages, channels and private channels the next day. that "worked" (see https://www.supernetworks.org/pages/blog/agentic-insecurity-vibes-on-bitchat#vibe-identity-an-obvious-flaw), but is in no way robust or thought through enough. i thought this was going to be mildly interesting, but it's turned out to hit a nerve, and something that a lot of people want to see actually become real.
so now that we have this community, we're going to do just that. we already have a working android implementation thanks to @callebtc, and lots of good PRs and issues to work through. i'm going to work on converting bitchat to use the noise protocol (http://www.noiseprotocol.org) to ensure much stronger and standard key management and encryption. i should be able to get to this over the weekend. serious PRs and audits always appreciated.
as for the AppStore release, that's blocked on three things: more robust network optimization (good suggestions here: https://x.com/tim_zaman/status/1942052775510335559), noise protocol implementation, and Apple approving. bitchat is currently stuck in review as apple is asking for things that are more suited for social media rather than p2p chat. for now, all we have is TestFlight and android.
after that, it's wi-fi direct implementation, stronger store and forward (with internet sync perhaps), and media.
and of course, bitcoin integration.
bitchat will always be free and open source software in the public domain. this technology needs to be free and accessible to all.
i'll keep updating here as we make progress. thank you all again for the attention on this project, and help along the way.
jack
