Open Garden, creator of FireChat, has announced the introduction of its off-the-grid private messaging technology (OM). Using it, users will now be able to send private messages to people anywhere, even if they aren’t connected to the Internet or to a cellular network, said the startup.
We all know that communication apps require Internet access. When Internet access or cellular phone networks are not available or congested, such apps stop working. But FireChat can.
So how does it work? FireChat explained in a written statement that thanks to its peer-to-peer mesh networking technology & ‘store and forward’ capabilities, the app transmits messages from phone to phone until they reach the intended recipients. For example, if all networks were down in a city, it would take approximately 5% of the city’s population on FireChat to cover the entire city with an average message delivery time of 10 to 20 minutes.
Enabling large scale offline messaging required solving challenging technological issues including: off-the-grid identity, addressing, routing, encryption, and interoperability between operating systems. What’s more, all FireChat private messages are encrypted from end to end. Only the sender & recipient can read a private message. No one else can access the Content of private messages.
“Forget SMS and IM, here comes OM. Off-the-grid messaging allows any community to create their own network for instant public & private communications, regardless of available infrastructure & traditional centralized networks,” said Micha Benoliel, co-founder & CEO of Open Garden, in a statement.
This technology is available now as a free application for Android & iOS devices.
Open Garden Inc. is a San Francisco,US-based startup dedicated to connecting the next 5 billion mobile devices with peer-to-peer connections. Launched in March 2014, FireChat said it had reached the top 10 amongst social networking apps in 124 countries around the world.
You may click here to download FireChat on your Android device.
You may click here to download FireChat on your iOS device.
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