BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH smart phones and their applications becoming more advanced, users could see WhatsApp, the most popular of all the applications, being rivaled.
A new application on the market named FireChat allows any smart phone user to connect without the use of data connections or mobile internet service and Wi-Fi connections.
The new iOS-enabled App uses Apple's Multipeer Connectivity framework - essentially a peer-to-peer feature which lets you share messages with other App users nearby.
"FireChat allows the device to connect directly to others nearby using Bluetooth, peer-to-peer wi-fi or traditional wi-fi networks so you do not actually need a data connection," Micha Benoliel, CEO of Open Garden firm that developed the App was quoted as saying.
A report in wired.com says that the Apple's Multipeer Connectivity APIs could be used for everything from collaborative editing and file sharing to multiplayer gaming and sensor aggregation.
According to the Hindustan Times, the App browses for other users nearby while simultaneously broadcasting to peers who are available for connection.
This allows you to be invited into a "session" with multiple users.
Once a session invitation is accepted, you can directly communicate with those other users independent of a cellular signal or Wi-Fi access.
This creates what is called "wireless mesh network". All messages are deleted when the App is closed.
The Hindustan Times stated that by last October, Apple had sold 700 million iOS devices and many people are already using the latest Multipeer Connectivity-supporting version of iOS.
It was reported that within one week of its launch, FireChat has been downloaded more that 100 000 per day.
