Messaging App Weaves Smartphones Into an Alternative Internet

Messaging App Weaves Smartphones Into an Alternative Internet

FireChat can link Android and Apple phones into a long-range communications network even when the cell network is down.

What do people in Manila watching the Pope give Mass, Russian and Hong Kong protesters, and U.S. festivalgoers have in common? They have all turned to FireChat, an app that creates hyperlocal chat rooms that work even when cell networks are down by connecting phones within Wi-Fi range of one another (see “The Latest Chat App for the iPhone Needs No Internet Connection”).

Messaging App Weaves Smartphones Into an Alternative Internet