BitTorrent releases test version of anonymous chat service

BitTorrent has released a first ‘pre-alpha’ version of its anonymous chat service Bleep. The service, announced last year, allows users to chat without having conversations or metadata processed by a central server.

The test version of Bleep can only be used under Windows 7 and 8 for the time being, and users must also have an invite. Versions for other operating systems will come ‘later’; it’s unclear if and when there will be mobile versions as well. Users can sign up using their email address, phone number or even completely anonymously. Anonymous users can be added by scanning a QR code or copying their unique key.

The pre-alpha has some limitations: at the moment it is only possible to send messages if the other user is logged in; support for offline messaging will come later. Accounts are also not synchronized: it is currently not yet possible to log in to the same account at a different location. In addition, the voip functionality of Bleep does not seem to work yet. Adding contacts and having chat conversations works without any problems.

The chat service does not use central servers: every chat client is in fact also a chat server. Finding contacts is also decentralized. No metadata or content of conversations are processed by central servers, BitTorrent promises. This makes Bleep comparable to BitTorrent Sync, BitTorrent’s cloud storage service that also works completely decentralized.

Communications are encrypted end-to-end, meaning that encryption is handled by the client and is not decrypted until the message reaches the other user. This makes the service comparable to Threema, TextSecure and Telegram, which offer similar functionality, although a Telegram user must explicitly opt for it.

Incidentally, there is no way to verify BitTorrent’s claims: Bleep’s source code, like that of BitTorrent Sync, is not open source.