'Off-the-grid' messaging application FireChat continues to ride Occupy boost

[Sprint]

'Off-the-grid' messaging application FireChat continues to ride Occupy boost

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 07 October, 2014, 2:50pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 07 October, 2014, 3:13pm

Patrick Boehler [email protected]

A student pro-democracy protester uses her smartphone as she and others sit outside Hong Kong's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's office on Sunday. Photo: AP

FireChat, a mobile messaging application that does not rely on data networks or Internet connections to operate, has seen explosive growth in Hong Kong since it became the app of choice last week in the city's Occupy Central pro-democracy movement.

Over the last week, FireChat has been downloaded 460,000 times in the city, according to Christophe Daligault, vice-president of sales and marketing of the app’s developer Open Garden.

With a poulation of just over 7 million, Hong Kong has now become the second-largest market for the application in terms of downloads, behind the United States and ahead of India. Mainland China ranks fifth, while Taiwan ranks ninth in downloads.

Protest organisers in Hong Kong had first called on demonstrators to download the app as rumours circulated on Sunday that the government might shut down mobile phone networks and Internet connections in districts hit by protests.

FireChat connects users to chat rooms via Bluetooth or Wi-fi, even if they are not connected to mobile phone networks. Messages go online and can reach a global audience if individual users in chat rooms gain access to the internet.

While there was no evidence of large-scale Internet or mobile network outage in Hong Kong in the past week, participants and supporters of Occupy Central continued to download and use the app.

In the week ending on Saturday, Hongkongers participated in 5.1 million chat sessions on FireChat, Daligault said. At peak times, as many as 37,000 Hongkongers used the app simultaneously, mostly sharing updates on the pro-democracy protests in the city.

FireChat gained its first popularity boost in Taiwan, only days after its launch in March. Students protesters in the island’s “Sunflower Movement” occupied the legislature in Taipei, calling for a halt to a new cross-straits trade agreement that would further link Taiwan’s economy to that of mainland China.

Protesters downloaded the app en masse as they feared the authorities might shut down the mobile network to prevent students from spreading their message from the occupied legislature. That didn't happen either.

Despite its popularity in such social movements, the application is not without fault, said Ben Cheng, co-founder of Hong Kong software company Oursky.

“Fire chat is a public chat, it is a bit difficult to discover new rooms and a lot of chat rooms are spammed with repetitive or false information,” said Cheng.

The protests have helped developers improve their application, Daligault said. “The immediate priority is to introduce trusted voices on FireChat,” he said. “This comes in the form of verified accounts. Such accounts are meant for people who want to join the discussions under their real name, specifically journalists and reporters.”

“The students have also asked us to improve the user experience with very practical things such as time-stamps, and make messages easier to read when there are too many people on FireChat at once,” he said.

However, users have also raised privacy concerns. “FireChat can be used by anyone within the same area, it is hard to distinguish who is who in the chat room, so sharing classified messages in FireChat will be unwise as you will never know who are you speaking to and there maybe someone peeking there,” said Glacier Kwong, a member of Keyboard Frontline, a Hong Kong-based internet freedom advocate group.

“FireChats are public, like tweets,” said Daligault. “People who want to remain anonymous can and should use pseudonyms.”

He said developers were working on adding a private messaging function.

 

[Sinkie]

<article class="fyre-comment-article fyre-comment-source-5" data-message-id="183754125" data-author-id="[email protected]" itemtype="http://schema.org/Comment" itemscope="itemscope" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(76, 76, 76);"><header class="fyre-comment-head" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">qy <time class="fyre-comment-date" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); height: 10px; float: none; background: none;">Jul 2, 2014</time>

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</article><article class="fyre-comment-article fyre-comment-source-5" data-message-id="152838023" data-author-id="[email protected]" itemtype="http://schema.org/Comment" itemscope="itemscope" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(76, 76, 76);"><header class="fyre-comment-head" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">poparosa <time class="fyre-comment-date" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); height: 10px; float: none; background: none;">Apr 7, 2014</time>

</header><section class="fyre-comment-body" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden;">I wonder if this app will be available on the itouch.

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</article><article class="fyre-comment-article fyre-comment-source-5" data-message-id="152152169" data-author-id="[email protected]" itemtype="http://schema.org/Comment" itemscope="itemscope" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(76, 76, 76);"><header class="fyre-comment-head" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">skingw <time class="fyre-comment-date" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); height: 10px; float: none; background: none;">Apr 4, 2014</time>

</header><section class="fyre-comment-body" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden;">“This method of communication is immune to firewalls like the ones installed in China and North Korea,”


LOL. Can't you guys just talk to somebody in China (if not possible in NK) before politicizing anything and everything here?


This kind of app is nothing new. Android / Wifi ad hoc based applications have been around for years, with millions of users already, "even" in China. Check out this Zapya, http://www.kuaiya.cn/ With its android, ios prison-break, and ios versions, Zapya has been long boasting 30 million users. all of them are way before this FireChat thing.

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</article><article class="fyre-comment-article fyre-comment-source-5" data-message-id="150771605" data-author-id="[email protected]" itemtype="http://schema.org/Comment" itemscope="itemscope" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(76, 76, 76);"><header class="fyre-comment-head" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Heirophant <time class="fyre-comment-date" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); height: 10px; float: none; background: none;">Mar 31, 2014</time>

</header><section class="fyre-comment-body" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden;"> This is not new. iCrowdsurf, which was the 13th Application on the App Store and did all this functionality and more.


http://mobile.huddler.com/products/icrowdsurf-for-iphone

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</article><article class="fyre-comment-article fyre-comment-source-5" data-message-id="150768712" data-author-id="[email protected]" itemtype="http://schema.org/Comment" itemscope="itemscope" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(76, 76, 76);"><header class="fyre-comment-head" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">peterkwells <time class="fyre-comment-date" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); height: 10px; float: none; background: none;">Mar 31, 2014</time>

</header><section class="fyre-comment-body" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden;">Mesh could be great (and deserves exploring with ideas like this) but I suspect it might struggle to cross the more, um how can I put this, physical firewall that exists at geopolitical boundaries or the sparsely populated spaces within some countries

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</article><article class="fyre-comment-article fyre-comment-source-5" data-message-id="150753468" data-author-id="[email protected]" itemtype="http://schema.org/Comment" itemscope="itemscope" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(76, 76, 76);"><header class="fyre-comment-head" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Catson <time class="fyre-comment-date" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); height: 10px; float: none; background: none;">Mar 31, 2014</time>

</header><section class="fyre-comment-body" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden;">Communicating within 100 feet without use of the Internet is called talking ;-) LOL
The potential of the dynamic mesh network, however, once it's past the critical mass, is humongous.
Bad choice of the headline to get attention to the topic.

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</article><article class="fyre-comment-article fyre-comment-source-5" data-message-id="150538071" data-author-id="[email protected]" itemtype="http://schema.org/Comment" itemscope="itemscope" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(76, 76, 76);"><header class="fyre-comment-head" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Nevercom <time class="fyre-comment-date" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); height: 10px; float: none; background: none;">Mar 30, 2014</time>

</header><section class="fyre-comment-body" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden;">Whats the big deal ? Connecting Phones and sending Messages over WiFi or Bluetooth has been around for a long time. Even in Nokia days i had an app for that

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</article><article class="fyre-comment-article fyre-comment-source-5" data-message-id="150374440" data-author-id="[email protected]" itemtype="http://schema.org/Comment" itemscope="itemscope" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(76, 76, 76);"><header class="fyre-comment-head" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">gametheoryman <time class="fyre-comment-date" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); height: 10px; float: none; background: none;">Mar 30, 2014</time>

</header><section class="fyre-comment-body" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden;">Even with a mesh network, the limit of 100 feet by line of sight (or 30 feet if a wall is in the way) severely restricts its application. It would be useful in concerts, festivals, within a building, at a shopping center, or wherever connecting humans are crawling all over like in an ant hill.


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</article><article class="fyre-comment-article fyre-comment-source-5" data-message-id="150032122" data-author-id="[email protected]" itemtype="http://schema.org/Comment" itemscope="itemscope" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(76, 76, 76);"><header class="fyre-comment-head" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">bkentgreen <time class="fyre-comment-date" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); height: 10px; float: none; background: none;">Mar 29, 2014</time>

</header><section class="fyre-comment-body" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden;">Remember the mesh network system which could be set up automatically by the "One Laptop per Child" computers. If every block captain had one of those during the hurricane in New Orleans I am sure that a lot of lives would have been saved and a lot of suffering and fear eliminated. They even had there own power supply.
At $175 a pop, Homeland Security could have outfitted a pretty fair sized network for a very modest cost. And they still could ......if they were actually interested in homeland security that is .......Sigh


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