FireChat

FireChat is a mobile app that uses wireless mesh networking to enable smartphones to connect via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or Apple’s Multipeer Connectivity Framework without an internet connection by connecting peer-to-peer. FireChat was introduced in 2014 with the ability to post messages to public chatrooms that counld be viewed by anyone using FireChat. In 2015, FireChat added private messaging, allowing users to communicate privately with each other, and in July of that year added end-to-end encryption to protect one-to-one private chats.

FireChat builds its own mesh network, connecting directly to other FireChat users up to 200 feet away. FireChat's store and forward function allows users to pass messages anywhere within the mesh network, and the more people using FireChat in an area, the large the mesh becomes. In an area without cellular or WiFi service, several FireChat users could establish a mesh network providing communication over as large of an area as there were FireChat users available to participate in the mesh. Once the mesh includes users with Internet access, FireChat then has the ability has the ability to send and receive message anywhere in the world.

FireChat is available for both iOS and Android. A YouTube Video explaining FireChat can be found here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GogPPT3ePGQ