0.1: Testing the bluetooth communications

This is the first release of Geogram, an application for communication and data sharing where internet is optional.

On this first release only the bluetooth broadcast chat is implemented. This broadcast functionality means that you will send messages to everyone within reach of your bluetooh. This app works for Android phones and uses Bluetooth LE. It should be considered as experimental, check the "known limitations" sections to see what works and what doesn't.

What you need to try this out

• two Android phones

How to try?

• install the app on this page
• enable all needed permissions (location, bluetooth, disable battery saving)
• make sure you have bluetooth and wifi enabled
• run the app on both phones
• you should quickly see each other phone (distance)
• click on the button at the left-upper-corner (options)
• click on "Nearby"
• start chatting, have fun!

Know limitations

For some reason bluetooh stops working after some 15 minutes. The chat function will no longer work but the broadcast will keep working as intended without interruption. This seems to be a common problem with bluetooth on Android, I have tried different techniques but it just stops working. If someone reading this page has more experience and can help fixing this issue, please get in contact.

Chat messages don't have a limitation in size, you can write them as big as desired. Bluetooth communication is very fragile and limited in size for each transmission (about 20 letters) so long messages are dispatched in several communications. Albeit we try to recover messages when they don't all arrive, it is always better to send shorter messages.