Open-source Bluetooth mesh messenger by Jack Dorsey that works without internet by hopping between nearby phones.
Bitchat is a peer-to-peer Bluetooth mesh messaging app for iOS and Android. There's no central server, no account, and no internet requirement. Phones running Bitchat discover each other over Bluetooth and form an ad hoc mesh — messages hop from device to device through whatever nearby phones are running the app, eventually reaching their recipient. It's designed for the situations where conventional messengers fail: protests, disaster zones, off-grid environments, or anywhere infrastructure can't be trusted.
The project is open source under the permissionlesstech organization on GitHub. The iOS client is written in Swift and the Android client in Kotlin, and the repo includes a .claude directory indicating that Anthropic's Claude Code was an integral part of the development workflow.
How it was built
Bitchat is a weekend project from Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter/X and founder of Block. Dorsey wrote it largely with Claude Code alongside Goose, Block's open-source AI assistant (which itself runs on Claude). It is a textbook vibe-coding artifact from a high-profile founder: shipped fast, written publicly, leaning heavily on AI assistance for both clients.
TechCrunch and other outlets covered the launch in July 2025 as a notable example of Dorsey personally shipping software again. The project drew immediate attention both because of who built it and because of how it was built.
Why it matters — and the asterisk
Bitchat became a cautionary tale almost as fast as it became a poster child. Inc.com and other outlets reported on security flaws that surfaced shortly after release, which researchers traced back to the absence of external review before launch. The story became a widely-cited example of the systemic risk in vibe-coding security-sensitive apps without bringing in human security expertise — a high-profile founder, two AI assistants, a weekend, and a messaging protocol that real people might trust with sensitive conversations.
The combination of "Jack Dorsey + Claude Code + Bluetooth mesh + open source + security flaws" makes Bitchat one of the most discussed entries in the 2025 vibe-coding canon — both as a demonstration of what's possible solo and as a reminder of what still needs human oversight.
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