FireChat

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This article is about the app. For the widget, see Firebase § Firechat.
Firechat
FireChat logo.png
Developer(s) Open Garden
Platform Android, iOS
Type mesh networking
License Proprietary
Website opengarden.com

FireChat is a proprietary mobile app, developed by Open Garden, which uses wireless mesh networking to enable smartphones to connect via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or Apple’s Multipeer Connectivity Framework without an internet connection by connecting peer-to-peer.[1]

Though it was not designed with the purpose in mind, FireChat has been used as a communication tool in some civil protests.

History

The app was first introduced in March 2014 for iPhones,[2] followed on April 3 by a version for Android devices.[3]

In July 2015, FireChat introduced private messaging. Until then, it had only been possible to post messages to public chatrooms.[4]

Usage

FireChat first became popular in 2014 in Iraq following government restrictions on internet use,[5][6] and thereafter during the Hong Kong protests.[7][8] In 2015, FireChat was also promoted by protesters during the 2015 Ecuadorian protests.[9] On September 11, 2015, during the pro-independence demonstration called Free Way to the Catalan Republic, FireChat was used 131,000 times.[10]

In January 2016, students protested at the University of Hyderabad, India, following the suicide of a PhD student named Rohith Vemula.[11] Some students were reported to have used Firechat after the university shut down its Wi-Fi.[12]

Security

In June 2014, Firechat's developers told Wired that "[p]eople need to understand that this is not a tool to communicate anything that would put them in a harmful situation if it were to be discovered by somebody who's hostile ... It was not meant for secure or private communications."[13]

As of July 2015, FireChat claims to use end-to-end encryption to protect its one-to-one private messages.[4]

See also

Mesh network applications

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References

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External links

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