Android

6 Best Offline Messaging Apps

Have you ever been in a situation where you need to chat/connect with someone, and suddenly the internet broke down? Or do you live in poor connectivity areas, wherein staying connected is a big challenge? However, if you still want to chat with your loved ones and stay connected, then you must have an offline messaging app.

So, don’t let these internet shutdowns create a communication gap between you and your loved ones.

To help you stay connected, we have listed down a few apps you can use as offline messaging apps/offline chat apps. These will help you out in case there is an internet shutdown in your area or a poor connection issue.

Below are the 6 best offline messaging apps that you can use while there is no internet. Let’s go through the offline chat apps one by one to understand them better:

Best Offline Messaging Apps

List of Contents

  • 1. FireChat (Android & iOS)
  • 2. Bridgefy (Android & iOS)
  • 3. Briar (Android)
  • 4. Signal Offline (Android)
  • 5. Vojer (iOS)
  • 6. Air Chat (iOS)

1. FireChat (Android & iOS)

An innovative app that doesn’t require any cell phone coverage or mobile data, FireChat lets users communicate with nearby devices. The messaging app uses Bluetooth and peer-to-peer WiFi to establish a mesh network to transmit data. The concept works by bouncing signals from one device to another until it reaches the recipient.

Directly you will be connected with one another and create your own network for public and private communications. The more people use it, the bigger and faster your network becomes.

Public messages can be seen by anyone. However, private ones are encrypted and can only be seen and read by the sender and the recipient(s).

FireChat is compatible with both mobile operating systems, iOS and Android.

2. Bridgefy (Android & iOS)

One of the best offline messaging apps, Bridgefy lets you communicate with your friends and family when you don’t have access to the Internet. This is the best app to use if you’re at a music event or natural disaster. If you are traveling abroad and don’t want to pay for the roaming charges, then also this is the app to go to.

The best feature I experienced while using the app, was that you have three ways to connect with people. First, you can chat one-to-one using the mesh mode (private messaging); 2nd is to create a Wi-Fi and connect with multiple people. The last option is to go for the broadcast mode that lets anybody (even they aren’t in your contact list) in your surroundings to see your messages.

Bridgefy is also compatible with iOS and Android.

Also Read: Best Visual Voicemail Apps for Android and iOS

3. Briar (Android)

Compatible only with Android, Briar lets users connect with people via private messaging via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. When the Internet is limited or turned off, this app works like a savior to connect with people around you.

Offline messaging apps like Briar ensure that even though there is internet shutdown, you can communicate with your networks when tools like WhatsApp, Twitter, & Facebook aren’t available. The major targeted audience for the app are people who need a safe, easy, and robust way to communicate like journalists, activists and etc.

Briar isn’t available on iOS and is only available for Android.

4. Signal Offline (Android)

As the name suggests, Signal Offline works in situations when there is no mobile coverage or internet connectivity. Alike other offline messaging apps, Signal Offline also lets people connect via the Wi-Fi Direct feature.

With the help of this app, people can communicate within the range of up to 100 meters. The app allows you to share text, photo, audio, and video messages to users around you over wifi direct. Your old chats are also stored in the database and you can access them anytime.

5. Vojer (iOS)

Another offline chat app in the list that is only compatible with iOS. It works perfectly when other messengers don’t. The app totally works without the internet and creates its own secure and reliable mesh network around you. Vojer lets you interact with your friends, family, strangers, or any other human even if you don’t have any cellular coverage.

The requirement to use the app in your iPhone to connect with your groups, iPhone 4S requires Bluetooth turned on and iPhone 5 and above require Wi-Fi turned on.

6. Air Chat (iOS)

Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, Air Chat helps you connect with your nearby friends via Bluetooth. You don’t need to have cellphone coverage or Wi-Fi to send messages with your friends and family. The app automatically detects people using the same app around you and allows you to start chatting.

Image Source: The Turtle Partnership Blog

Air Chat is another offline messaging app that is compatible with iOS, and requires iPhone 7.0 or above to function. One of the features with the app is that the Bluetooth notifications work in the background to alert you of new messages.

Wrapping Up

The above apps are the top ones in their field be it compatibility or system requirements. There is an ample amount of apps in the market which claim to the better than their competitor and the best anyone can do is use the app and give the feedback. After researching, we have enlisted above the best ones for you here.

If you are already using an offline chat app that is working great for you, please do share with us in the below comments. This will result in sharing this with more readers and help them in necessary situations to connect with the people around.

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