How to Communicate When The Internet Goes Down: Bridgefy

Here's a quick little tutorial about Bridgefy, what it is, how it works, how it's useful to you as someone who is participating in civil activism or practicing your right to freely assemble while authorities have cut off communication.

Bridgefy is a fun little tool that functions a little like any other messaging or chat app with a difference.

Bridgefy doesn't need the internet, doesn't need data, doesn't need cell service. It communicates device to device across a crowd of people who have Bridgefy, much like the bracelets many of you will have seen at concerts, festivals and sporting events.

TECHNICAL NOTES AND LIMITATIONS

YOU CAN SKIP THIS SECTION IF YOU DON'T CARE, BUT IT'S USEFUL TO KNOW. I'VE TRIED TO SIMPLIFY TO MAKE IT EASIER TO DIGEST

Bridgefy is limited in range because of the nature of communication it uses. It leverages BlueTooth and Wifi to communicate directly to other phones and devices that have Bridgefy installed. That means it's limited to the useful range of the BlueTooth and Wifi radios in your phone.

BlueTooth and WiFi have a useful range of roughly 330ft (100m), assuming there's nothing interfering with the radio signal.

That sounds like it's not useful because you would need to be within 330ft of each other to use it, but that's not wholly accurate.

Bridgefy uses peer-to-peer decentralized communication. That means each person (node) behaves as a relay for every other person in a localized "mesh" - that means it behaves like a chain. Your device transmits the message to the next device which passes it along the chain until the person you need to communicate with gets the message.

This means you only actually need to be within 330ft of one other person in the mesh and everyone can communicate.

In real terms, this means it works fantastically in crowds of people that are in reasonably close proximity to one another - for example a protest or a festival or any other scenario where you might have no cell service but have a group of people where you're all within close proximity of at least one another person in your group.

CRITICAL SECURITY AND PRIVACY NOTE!!!

THERE IS NO VALIDATION ON WHAT ANYONE SETS THEIR DISPLAYED USER NAME TO.

THIS MEANS THAT ANYONE CAN LOOK LIKE ANYONE ELSE.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOME MEANS OF AUTHENTICATING ANYONE YOU WANT TO SPEAK WITH SO YOU DON'T SHARE SENSITIVE INFORMATION WITH ANYONE YOU DON'T TRUST!

How do I get it and use it?

So this is the app in the App Store, it's availabe for iOS and Android

Once you download it, it'll ask you what language you want to open in and then allow you the choice of connecting using your Apple or Google login.

This is what you'll see when you first log in unless you're within proximity of other people who also have the app.

It's slightly different than your typical chat app because there's no way to add people you want to talk to, as it automatically adds people in proximity to you that also have the app… and in proximity to them…and them… and so on. Like a chain that can go in all directions.

So when someone opens the app, and they're within proximity of the chain somewhere, their contact info propagates through the chain and when it reaches your device you can communicate with them.

This means that when you send a message, it bounces through the device of each member of the chain until it reaches the desired party.

Additionally there is a public chat where you can send broadcast messages to everyone on the chain - like a giant chat room.

The range is normal BlueTooth or Wi-Fi range, so a long as you're within BlueTooth range of the chain - approximately 330ft, you'll be able to communicate with anyone else that's within 330ft of someone else in the chain.

If any of the people in the mesh also still have cell and internet service, they can then relay any critical messages by phone or internet elsewhere.