Adds a profile screen, and restores two things that had no entry point at all.
Downloads
| File | For |
|---|---|
| ochat-arm64.apk | ARM64 — essentially every modern phone. Pick this one. |
| ochat-x86_64.apk | x86_64 — Chromebooks, some tablets, emulators |
| ochat-universal.apk | All architectures — larger, use if unsure |
Requires Android 8.0 (API 26) or newer. Signed; certificate SHA-256:
87:E2:6E:CC:64:F3:19:DB:6C:FB:03:48:30:02:4F:00:04:6C:63:BB:E1:53:84:52:88:4F:96:3F:80:55:C8:8F
New: profile screen
Open it from your avatar in the top bar, or the overflow menu.
- Your avatar, nickname, and how many people you are connected to
- Change your nickname — saved when you tap Done or the tick
- Theme — System, Light or Dark
- Your identity keys — peer ID, key fingerprint and Nostr key, in monospace and copyable, each explaining what it is for. The fingerprint is what you compare with someone in person to be sure you are talking to them and not an impostor.
- Clear all data, behind a confirmation that says plainly the identity cannot be recovered
Fixed
Changing your nickname was impossible. The nickname editor only existed in the old chat header, which stopped being used when the interface was rebuilt in 1.0.0. There was no way to change your name at all.
The emergency data wipe was unreachable, for the same reason. It had lived behind an undocumented triple-tap on the header. That is a privacy feature in a privacy app, so losing it mattered.
Renaming yourself no longer floods the mesh. The old editor saved and re-broadcast an announce on every keystroke, so typing a ten-character name sent ten announcements to everyone nearby.
Identity keys refresh after a wipe. They were cached without a key, so after clearing your data the screen would have kept showing your old fingerprint — dangerous, since that is exactly the value someone reads out to verify you.
Please read before installing
The interface changes in 1.1.0 and 1.2.0 have been compiled and reviewed, but not run on a device. No phone or emulator was available when they were built.
Everything below the interface is unchanged and has been verified on hardware — mesh networking, protocol and cryptography are untouched from upstream bitchat, and OChat has been confirmed discovering and exchanging signed announces with an unmodified bitchat client.
Still untested against a real bitchat client: private chats and media (images, voice notes, files). Only the public mesh timeline has been verified end to end.
Open an issue if something looks wrong — that feedback is genuinely useful right now.
Notes
- OChat installs alongside bitchat rather than replacing it, so you can run both and message between them.
- Only English strings are rebranded; other locales still say "bitchat".
- No external security review. Do not rely on this for sensitive communication.
Fork of bitchat-android, licensed under GPL-3.0.