Thousands of protesters Hong Kong residents have found a way to communicate without going through a network of operators. They moved to a mobile messenger FireChat , which uses Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Now the lion's share of users FireChat - Hong Kong residents.
Free app FireChat devices on iOS and Android allows people to communicate with each other, even where mobile communication is not. Messenger establishes a direct connection between the two phones at a distance of 70 m. However, a large gathering of networked users FireChat range of the messenger may be a lot more within the stadium, park or wherever the minimum distance between two users is less than 70 m.
Software company Open Garden messenger positions as a means of communication in nature, a football match, the beach and other places where there may be a problem with the connection. But now he has found another unexpected use: mass meetings in Hong Kong, during which the power switch off mobile communications in the gathering places of the protesters. Who sets the messenger more than 100 000 users per day from Hong Kong, said one of the founders of the Open Garden, Stanislav Rascals "And what active users! Protesters armed with goggles, respirators and FireChat ». People from Hong Kong began to connect to FireChat on Saturday, and a sharp increase in the number of new users has happened on Sunday, told the South China Morning Post the other founder of the Open Garden, Misha Benole. According to him, for the messenger Open Garden is a large number: Sunday morning until Monday morning FireChat in Hong Kong at the same time using about 33 000 people.
According to RBC , now Hong Kong accounts for the lion's share of users FireChat. By the number of units in the store Google Play for Android smartphones FireChat falls into the category "from 500 000 to 1 million." Data on iOS platform is not, but research firm App Annie says that now FireChat - this is the most popular application in Hong Kong for both platforms.
The first version of FireChat started March 1, 2014. At first it was overall in Iraq , where authorities in some regions also cut off the Internet and access to social networks. As reported by the BBC in June, more than 40,000 Iraqis have installed the messenger - especially in regions where militants are operating the radical organization "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant." A first FireChat «tasted" in March the people of Taiwan, protesting near parliament against the signing of a trade agreement with China.
"Make application for communication without infrastructure, I would like a long time, but there were no conditions," - says the graduate of Mechanics and Mathematics Faculty of Moscow State University Stanislav Rascals. He recalls that he had discussed the idea back in 2001 with the director of the program of the American National Science Foundation (NSF, National Science Foundation) - an independent agency of the Government of the United States, which is responsible for the development of science and technology. According Shalunova, working conditions FireChat appeared when he became a massive "device, which included all the time and that has more than one radio [radio link]: Bluetooth + Wi-Fi + 3G + 4G». When there was Android, Rascals realized that communication technology "can be packed into the application."
Now the main problem FireChat that the network can connect any user - and it does not protected by listening. "Everything that you type in FireChat, available for everybody" - recognized marketing director Christoph Daligo Open Garden. He says that at the request of residents of Hong Kong developers now want to add data encryption to messenger.
Stanislav Rascals - creator of the protocol LEDBAT, which is used in the file-sharing network BitTorrent. Apple using this protocol distributes among its users all the updates. Tricksy says that LEDBAT has 15-20% of all traffic on the Internet.
Protesters around the world often use special applications. For example, during the riots and protests in Biryulyovo in Istanbul's Taksim Square, participants communicated with each other via Internet radio Zello. Who is this program for smartphones actively used in the Donetsk and Lugansk region, both sides of the conflict. It allows you to exchange voice messages, as on the radio - but the voice is transmitted through the Internet. According to the developers Zello, for the smooth running of missing networks 2G.