A new app launched last week could make communicating in the Swamp on gamedays a little easier.
The new app — FireChat — in its “nearby” mode, does not need Internet access, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and can exchange messages and files among users 30 feet to 100 feet apart. Anyone with an iOS 7-capable device can use the app, said Christophe Daligault, vice president of sales and marketing for Open Garden Inc., the founding company. The app can be used on iPhone, iPad and iPod devices, and tech websites are reporting that it’s getting 100,000 downloads daily across the world.
“It’s perfect for situations where connectivity is not great such as public transportation, outdoors, clubs, festivals and probably many campuses, too,” Daligault wrote in an email. “FireChat takes advantage of Apple’s Multipeer Connectivity Framework, which is why iOS 7 is required.”
The app is available free on iOS 7 devices, and the company is developing a version for Android.
Andrew Selepak, director of the masters of arts in mass communication in social media at UF, said the software is limited by the hardware.
“It’s going to be limited to just students with the new operating system,” Selepak said. “It’s a peer-to-peer network. The more people that can use it the better the network is.”
However, if something catastrophic happened, this type of communication can be useful, Selepak said — or even during a crowded game in the Swamp, where getting any kind of signal can be difficult.
A combination of Facebook fatigue, privacy concerns and poor connectivity on mobile devices is supporting the growth and success of FireChat, Daligault said.
“We originally designed FireChat for off-the-grid scenarios, which could also include emergency situations,” Daligault said. “...you don’t need to log in, messages are not stored anywhere, and when you leave the app, the message history disappears.”
Ethan Brown, a 19-year-old UF management freshman, said he would try the app, but only in addition to what he already uses.
“I would still use more typical means of communication,” he said.
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 3/28/2014 under the headline "App allows chatting without Internet"]
