Probably, you might not have heard about FireChat which is totally a free messaging app for public and private communications that works even without internet connection or cellular data. It’s a unique concept developed by Open Garden. This is the idle app that you need when travelling because you don’t need to pay high roaming charges, overpriced international data packs to send messages.
What FireChat does is, it enables you to send messages anywhere in the world without the internet connection or the cellular charge. It utilizes peer-to-peer “Mesh Network” service. What basically, mesh network does is enables you to send messages wirelessly by bouncing the message from one phone too other which has FireChat installed via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth within 210 feet. It works Just like Wi-Fi direct for sending the message without the need of router or network. The best part of this app is the more people uses it the easier to send messages.
But, if there is no presence of internet connections nearby – messages will be encrypted and stored until It can be sent, so only the intended recipient will be able to read them. The messages that you send using FireChat will bounce from phone to phone until it reaches the recipient, for long distance recipient message will bounce until it finds the phone with internet connection and makes its way to the final destination.
According to Skift this app can take up-to 10 to 20 minutes in dense metro area. It can even work on remote or blackout areas that have little to no coverage, including plane and subways. Skift says about 5 million mobile users worldwide uses this app. The creator of app Open Garden says, as long as 5% of the city’s population has it, messages can be delivered in around 10 minutes.
FireChat has contributed a lot on different movements. It became hugely popular in Iran when there was restriction on internet use, in 2014 Hong Kong protest and the 2015 anti-corruption movement in Malaysia.
