# FireChat > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/FireChat > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/FireChat.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireChat > Source revision: 1315480659 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Mobile messaging app}} {{about|the app|the widget|Firebase#Firechat}} {{Infobox software | name = Firechat | logo = FireChat_logo.png | logo size = 200px | screenshot = | caption = | developer = [Open Garden](/source/Open_Garden) |latest release version = Discontinued |latest release date = |operating system = | platform = [Android](/source/Android_(operating_system)), [iOS](/source/iOS) | genre = [mesh networking](/source/mesh_networking) | license = [Proprietary](/source/Proprietary_software) | website = {{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/20140901121753/https://opengarden.com/firechat|opengarden.com/firechat}} }} '''FireChat''' was a [proprietary](/source/Proprietary_software) mobile app, developed by Open Garden, which used [wireless mesh networking](/source/wireless_mesh_networking) to enable [smartphone](/source/smartphone)s to pass messages to each other [peer-to-peer](/source/peer-to-peer) via [Bluetooth](/source/Bluetooth), [Wi-Fi](/source/Wi-Fi), or Apple's [Multipeer](/source/Smartphone_ad_hoc_network), without an internet connection.{{cite news|last1=Milian|first1=Mark|title=Russians Are Organizing Against Putin Using FireChat Messaging App|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-30/russians-are-organizing-against-putin-using-firechat-messaging-app.html|website=Bloomberg|date=30 December 2014 |access-date=1 January 2015}} Though it was not designed with the purpose in mind, FireChat was used as a communication tool in some civil protests. FireChat is now discontinued. The official URL displays a 404 error page, and apps have not been updated since 2018. ==History== The app was first introduced in March 2014 for [iPhones](/source/iPhones),{{cite web |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/news/525921/the-latest-chat-app-for-iphone-needs-no-internet-connection/ |title=FireChat Could Be the First in a Wave of Mesh Networking Apps |work=[MIT Technology Review](/source/MIT_Technology_Review) |last=Simonite |first=Tom |date=28 March 2014 |access-date=29 June 2014 |archive-date=27 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151127150930/http://www.technologyreview.com/news/525921/the-latest-chat-app-for-iphone-needs-no-internet-connection/ |url-status=dead }} followed on April 3 by a version for [Android devices](/source/Android_OS).{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/04/07/298925565/how-one-app-might-be-a-step-toward-internet-everywhere |title=How one app might be a step toward internet everywhere |last=Yu|first=Alan |date=7 April 2014 |work=NPR|access-date=29 June 2014}} In July 2015, FireChat introduced private messaging. Until then, it had only been possible to post messages to public chatrooms. In May 2016, FireChat introduced FireChat Alerts, which allowed users to "push" alerts during a specific time and in a specific place. {{cite web |url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/5/19/11711686/firechat-alerts-app-natural-disaster-mesh-network |title=This app lets rescue workers send offline alerts when disaster strikes |website=[The Verge](/source/The_Verge) |last=Toor|first=Amar |date=19 May 2016 |access-date=9 February 2018}} This feature was added for the benefit of aid workers doing disaster relief and stemmed from a partnership with the city of [Marikina](/source/Marikina). {{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/2015/10/giant-network-for-free-messaging/ |title=This App is Building a Giant Network for Free Messaging |magazine=[Wired](/source/Wired_(magazine)) |last=Stinson|first=Elizabeth |date=12 October 2015 |access-date=10 February 2018}} ==Usage== FireChat became popular in 2014 in [Iraq](/source/Iraq) following government restrictions on internet use,{{cite web |url=https://www.ft.com/content/ef9602b0-f807-11e3-90fa-00144feabdc0 |title='Private internet' FireChat app grows in popularity in Iraq |last1=Kuchler|first1=Hannah |last2=Kerr|first2=Simon |work=[Financial Times](/source/Financial_Times) |date=22 June 2014 |access-date=29 June 2014}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/24/firechat-updates-as-40000-iraqis-download-mesh-chat-app-to-get-online-in-censored-baghdad |title=Firechat updates as 40,000 Iraqis download 'mesh' chat app in censored Baghdad |last=Hern |first=Alex |work=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |date=24 June 2014 |access-date=29 June 2014}} and thereafter during the [2014 Hong Kong protests](/source/2014_Hong_Kong_protests).{{cite web|url=http://boingboing.net/2014/09/29/faced-with-network-surveillanc.html|title=Faced with network surveillance, Hong Kong student demonstrators go P2P|date=29 September 2014 |publisher=Boingboing.net|access-date=5 October 2014}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/29/firechat-messaging-app-powering-hong-kong-protests|title=FireChat – the messaging app that's powering the Hong Kong protests|work=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)|first=Archie|last=Bland|date=29 September 2014}} In 2015, FireChat was also promoted by protesters during the [2015 Ecuadorian protests](/source/2015_Ecuadorian_protests).{{cite web|last1=Velazco|first1=Alfredo|title=The Internet, a Staging Post for Protests in Ecuador, is Under Threat|url=http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/06/28/the-internet-a-staging-post-for-protests-in-ecuador-is-under-threat/|website=[Global Voices Online](/source/Global_Voices_Online)|date=28 June 2015 |access-date=28 June 2015}} On September 11, 2015, during the pro-independence demonstration called [Free Way to the Catalan Republic](/source/Free_Way_to_the_Catalan_Republic), FireChat was used 131,000 times.{{cite news|last1=Borràs|first1=Enric|title=L'aplicació amb què et podies comunicar a la Via Lliure també et servirà en una catàstrofe|url=http://www.ara.cat/societat/aplicacio-podies-comunicar-via-lliure-servira-catastrofe_0_1432056955.html|access-date=17 September 2015|publisher=Ara|date=17 September 2015}} In January 2016, students protested at the [University of Hyderabad](/source/University_of_Hyderabad), India, following the suicide of a PhD student named Rohith Vemula.{{cite web|title=Hyderabad university shut after protests over Dalit student's death|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35349789|website=BBC News|publisher=BBC|access-date=28 January 2016|date=19 January 2016}} Some students were reported to have used Firechat after the university shut down its Wi-Fi.{{cite news|author1=TNN|title= Firechat comes to UOH students' rescue|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Firechat-comes-to-UoH-students-rescue/articleshow/50691376.cms|work=The Times of India|publisher=The Times Group|date=23 January 2016|access-date=27 January 2016}} ==Security== In June 2014, Firechat's developers told ''[Wired](/source/Wired_(magazine))'' 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."{{cite magazine|last1=Baraniuk|first1=Chris|title=FireChat warns Iraqis that messaging app won't protect privacy|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-06/25/firechat|magazine=Wired|publisher=Condé Nast|access-date=28 January 2016|date=25 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150917061844/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-06/25/firechat|archive-date=17 September 2015|url-status=dead}} By July 2015, the FireChat developers claimed to have added [end-to-end encryption](/source/end-to-end_encryption) for its one-to-one private messages.{{cite web|title=FireChat launches new offline private messaging option|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33718318|website=BBC News|publisher=BBC|access-date=28 January 2016|date=30 July 2015}} ==See also== * [Mobile ad hoc network](/source/Mobile_ad_hoc_network) (MANET) * [Smartphone ad hoc network](/source/Smartphone_ad_hoc_network) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * {{official website|https://www.opengarden.com/firechat}} {{Instant messaging}} Category:2014 software Category:IOS software Category:Android (operating system) software Category:Internet-related activism Category:Mesh networking Category:Defunct instant messaging clients --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [FireChat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireChat) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireChat?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.