We all know Signal, Matrix, Telegram, SimpleX, etc… But if you can’t access the internet you can’t communicate. Pretty logic. But would it be possible, at least theoretically, to create an app that permits to message people even if the internet goes down?
It might be a dumb question I really have no idea to be honest.
There used to be one years ago that used WiFi radios or Bluetooth or whatever so you could chat to people near you… I totally forget what it was called though.
Yes, this is totally what I was thinking of!
Briar?
Bridgefy was used more during protests since it’s available on both iOS and Android, while Briar is Android only.
Bridgefy seems to require an online account to use. Brair requires zero obline accounts, and even allows sharing the apk to nearby devices without internet.
Edit: Yea, just checked… Bridgefy requires an internet connection the first time you launch it. Not good…
Yeah I’m not saying Bridgefy is better, just that it’s available on both major mobile platforms while Briar isn’t. I do prefer Briar on technical and privacy levels.
I don’t thiiiiink that’s it, but like I said, I don’t remember the name, so it might be 🤷♂️
Briar is the one that was mentioned a lot when the protests were happening in Taiwan, if that helps 👍
Taiwan? 🤨
You mean Hong Kong?
Yes, sorry. I woke up in the middle of the night, but apparently my brain didn’t…
I’ll correct it now 👍
Bridgefy?
The first thing that comes to mind is Meshtastic: https://meshtastic.org/
yes, a lot of people were using those kinds of apps during the free hong kong protests, they go from device-to-device with no internet in between.
No idea what the app is called, but apps like those exist
I mean this is a terrible answer, but DS pictochat fits that
No joke, I was talking about this recently. I feel like niche groups (me included) are just going full-circle back to the DS days
pictochat FTW
I found Berty yesterday just after making this post. But as a neophyte in cryptography and everything, how am I supposed to know which one is better for my privacy ? (e.g. between Briar and Berty) Because right now the only thing that I have is what the apps are “telling” me so… Yeah I don’t know how to chose.
Honestly if you don’t want to think too much about it, go with Briar, it’s way more battle tested, while Berty seems like it hasn’t seen much adoption since it’s younger, both have a bit of development activity I saw, so I can’t say if one is more or less maintained than the other
As for the actual question of gauging which has the better cryptographical implementation, I don’t know either, beside the most surface level information I know very little.
I believe if you want to look into it, you’ll have to start from their whitepapers
Woah Briar is really cool. I think this is like what I want Signal to be.
wouldn’t a cheap walkie-talkie be more practical in that situation?
i remember using this app some time ago ☞ https://f-droid.org/packages/org.jsl.wfwt/
wouldn’t a cheap walkie-talkie be more practical in that situation?
That’s not secure or encrypted
You can encrypt a radio.
Rattlegram is an app on iOS/Android that alllows converting text to audio and play it over your phone’s speaker
Secure Space Encryptor (SSE) (known as Paranoia Text Encryption on iOS) is an Open Source app that can encrypt text.
- Use SSE to encrypt text
- Copy-Paste the Ciphertext to Rattlegram
- Sent it over the radio
- On the other end, use Raddlegram to turn the audio back to the ciphertext
- Use SSE to decrypt.
Voila! Off-Grid Encrypted communications.
Warning: Encryption over radio is illegal in many countries 😉 (but fuck the law lol, who cares)
You can encrypt a radio.
Yes, but that requires you and the one(s) you’re communicating with to mod some radios and then to keep those radios secret, which won’t be easy once you start using them, especially in a situation like that where the government would probably be scanning those frequencies for exactly that
Briar (Android Only) - Uses Bluetooth, Wifi, or Internet via Tor to communicate. You can theretically create a large mesh group with enough users. Think of protests where the government shuts down the internet. Downside is, bluetooth range is 10 meters 😓.
Also: You can send encrypted text over SMS using Secure Space Encryptor (SSE) (known as Paranoia Text Encryption on iOS). It’s an Open Source app that can encrypt text.
- Type text
- Copy the Ciphertext
- Send and tell the recipient to use SSE fo decrypt.
You both have to share a password/passphrase over a secure channel, then use that to encrypt and decrypt.
Or PGP (there are mobile apps), but they aren’t quantum resistant. If someone intercept and stores them, it could be decrypted later. So I recomment Symmetric Encryption like AES 256 (so use SSE for better security, since they use AES 256)
You can also encrypt a radio:
Rattlegram is an app on iOS/Android that alllows converting text to audio and play it over your phone’s speaker.
As mentioned before, SSE.
- Use SSE to encrypt text
- Copy-Paste the Ciphertext to Rattlegram
- Sent it over the radio
- On the other end, use Raddlegram to turn the audio back to the ciphertext
- Use SSE to decrypt.
Voila! Off-Grid Encrypted communications.
Warning: Encryption over Ham Radio bands is illegal in many countries 😉 (but fuck the law lol, who cares)
There’s also Meshtastic, but it has much shorter range, but, in the USA at least, they aren’t “Ham Radio” so they (supposedly) can be encrypted legally.
This one works, if you don’t mind a little diy and texting only: https://circuitmess.com/products/chatter-lora-communication-device
Meshtastic can be encrypted and is LoRa based. Can easily hit nodes dozens of miles away with a good line of sight. It also relays messages across nodes to reach even further distances.
Check out Reticulum Network Stack using LORA radio. Works really well.
If you don’t want to use internet the only ways are to use radio or deploy your own network infrastructure (optic fiber or cell tower), so there’s no really any messaging app that can be used without internet. Briar can use Bluetooth but with a limited range, needing an actual dense mesh network.
scratch telegram off that list, but Session messenger there instead.
Telegram isn’t private, one guy has the master key to the whole thing
Yeah to be honest I don’t even know how telegram became so popular in the “privacy-oriented world”
Briar has a mesh mode. And i think there was a matrix app doing this too?
Depending on how far you’re willing to push the definition of “messaging” you could look into getting your ham radio license.