If multiple Firechat users are in the same area, a chain of phones can be created to send messages longer distances: The app’s web site indicates that it uses Bluetooth or peer-to-peer Wi-Fi to send messages between phones that are less than 70 meters (or about 210 feet) apart. When no Internet connection or cellular networks are available, FireChat uses the radios inside our phones to connect them directly with one another. In that case (which is also called “offline” or “off-the-grid”), messages will travel up to 70 meters (210 feet) from one phone to the next. If there are more than two devices, they will form a network and messages will bounce from one device to the next, thus extending the range of the network. The more people use FireChat, the better the network gets for everybody. This is why FireChat works really well for very large groups of people. However, it can be used to send messages within a community of FireChat users without the Internet: In other words, FireChat wouldn’t be able to send a text message from Miami, Florida to Seattle, Washington (a distance of more than 3,000 miles) unless an unbroken chain of tens of thousands of FireChat users spanned that distance. What’s unique about FireChat is that it also works when there is no Internet connection or cellular phone coverage. When your community gets together, it creates your own free communication network and doesn’t rely on traditional networks. You don’t have to do anything special: just keep FireChat on your smartphone and keep Bluetooth and WiFi on (yes, even if there is no Internet access). This is game-changing since you can create local communication networks at zero cost and also stay connected during sports games, rallies, music festivals, and in emergency situations. The MIT Technology Review explained more about how the app works in an article that was published shortly after FireChat’s initial release in 2014:įireChat makes use of a feature Apple introduced in the latest version of its iOS mobile software, iOS7, called multipeer connectivity. This feature allows phones to connect to one another directly using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi as an alternative to the Internet. If you’re using FireChat, its “nearby” chat room lets you exchange messages with other users within 100 feet without sending data via your cellular provider. Micha Benoliel, CEO and cofounder of startup Open Garden, which made FireChat, says the app shows how smartphones can be set free from cellular networks. He hopes to enable many more Internet-optional apps with the upcoming release of software tools that will help developers build FireChat-style apps for iPhone, or for Android, Mac, and Windows devices. “This approach is very interesting for multiplayer gaming and all kinds of communication apps,” says Benoliel.Ĭhristophe Daligault, the vice president of sales and marketing for the app, told NPR that it works on a “mesh” network: #SNOPES ZELLO SOFTWARE# Mesh networks can be used to set up temporary networks in disaster zones, and even to spread the Internet to remote areas beyond the reach of existing wireless networks and cables.
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