Quick background
Bitchat popped up when Jack Dorsey put out this: https://x.com/jack/status/1941989435962212728 It's a chat client that connects people via Bluetooth, no internet or cell connection needed.
Range?
Bitchatr sounds neat, but who wants to chat with the person in the same room? We need some of the ham radio, Meshtastic, Reticulum and code wizards to mash this all together and make Bitchat work with Reticulum...Bitchatr.
Reticulum, actually Meshtastic as I understand, uses LoRa, long-range radio to transmit data.
The conundrum
When I first read of Bitchat, I thought Reticulum/Meshtastic is much better because of range. Bitchat might be fun at a conference or at a party, but...range.
The problem with Reticulum is that it requires specialized hardware. The hardware literally has to be mashed up, even often soldering parts. And, computer skills seem needed to be rather high. 99.99% of people are not going to do this, or can't, and that's likely a low estimate. There do exist more end-user-friendly Reticulum or Meshtastic devices, but, 99.99% are not going to buy a devoted device for this type of thing.
So, Bitchat might have the advantage in that 99.99% of people have a bluetooth enabled phone in their hand right now. The problem, again, is...range. And, that's where Reticulum might come in.
So, the conundrum is this:
- Bitchat has the device advantage, but the range disadvantage.
- Reticulum has the device disadvantage, but the range advantage.
Could Bitchat be combined with Meshtastic via Reticulum, and thereby get out of the living room?
In theory
Below is totally AI theorizing, via Grok:
Conceptual Diagram Description: Bitchat Integration with Reticulum
Components:
- Bitchat Application: The user-facing messaging app, currently using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for short-range peer-to-peer communication.
- Bitchat-Reticulum Interface: A new software layer (to be developed) that allows Bitchat to communicate with Reticulum’s networking stack.
- Reticulum Stack: The core Reticulum software handling routing, encryption, and transport-agnostic communication. It includes the LXMF protocol for secure messaging.
- Transport Mediums: Physical communication layers supported by Reticulum, such as LoRa (via RNodes), WiFi, packet radio, or Ethernet.
- Reticulum Nodes: Devices running Reticulum, forming a mesh network to relay messages across various mediums.
- Other Bitchat Users: Endpoints receiving messages, also running Bitchat integrated with Reticulum.
Connections:
- Bitchat App to Reticulum Interface: Bitchat sends/receives messages to the Reticulum interface via an API or local socket, translating BLE-style messages into Reticulum-compatible packets (e.g., LXMF messages).
- Reticulum Interface to Reticulum Stack: The interface passes messages to Reticulum’s stack, which handles encryption, addressing, and routing.
- Reticulum Stack to Transport Mediums: Reticulum routes messages over available transports (e.g., LoRa RNodes for long-range, WiFi for local).
- Mesh Network Relay: Reticulum nodes relay messages across the network, using store-and-forward for disconnected environments, until reaching the destination node.
- Destination Node to Bitchat: The receiving Reticulum node delivers the message to the recipient’s Bitchat app via its Reticulum interface.
Flow:
- User A sends a message via Bitchat.
- Bitchat’s Reticulum interface formats the message for Reticulum’s LXMF protocol.
- Reticulum encrypts and routes the message over LoRa (or other medium) through the mesh network.
- Reticulum nodes relay the message until it reaches User B’s node.
- User B’s Reticulum interface delivers the message to their Bitchat app for display.
Simple ASCII Representation
Explanation:
- Bitchat User A/B: End users interacting with the Bitchat app.
- Bitchat App: The messaging UI, unchanged but now linked to Reticulum.
- Reticulum Interface: A bridge layer translating Bitchat messages to Reticulum.
- Reticulum Stack: Handles secure routing and encryption.
- LoRa RNode/Mesh Network: Represents the physical transport (LoRa here, but could be WiFi, etc.) and the mesh of Reticulum nodes relaying messages.
Notes:
- This assumes a hypothetical integration, as no current evidence shows Bitchat using Reticulum.
- The Reticulum interface would need development to map Bitchat’s messaging format to LXMF or another Reticulum protocol.
- LoRa is highlighted as a primary transport due to its long-range synergy with Reticulum, but Reticulum’s transport-agnostic nature allows flexibility (e.g., WiFi for urban areas).
Build it
It would be awesome to see Bitchat and Reticulum leverage each other's powers.
Where are the hammers and Reticulators and coders and mashers? Who can build Bitchatr?