The Bitchat app reached the top of Apple’s Social Networking App Store chart in France on October 22, 2026, a day after a nearly 10-hour mobile outage affected Orange and Sosh customers.

Key Takeaways

  • Bitchat remained first in the French social networking category on October 26.
  • The app uses Bluetooth to relay messages between nearby devices without mobile data or Wi-Fi.
  • Its chart position does not establish how many people downloaded or regularly use it.

Bitchat app climbs French charts

Bitchat ranked ahead of Telegram and Signal in the social networking category on October 22. By the morning of October 23, it was second among all free apps in France, behind Anthropic’s Claude.

The rise followed October 17 demonstrations against rising living costs and the October 21 disruption to calls, texts and mobile internet. French officials also discussed possible targeted social media restrictions, although no nationwide shutdown was implemented on October 24.

App Store rankings reflect relative download activity, not the number of active users. Verified French download figures have not been disclosed.

How offline messaging works

Jack Dorsey introduced Bitchat in July 2025 as an experimental peer-to-peer messaging app. It uses Bluetooth Low Energy to connect nearby smartphones, which can relay messages across a mesh network without mobile data, Wi-Fi, phone numbers or registered accounts.

The network’s reach depends on having enough nearby devices to pass messages along. Users generally need to install the app before losing internet access. Private messages are end-to-end encrypted, but messages in its public mesh channel are visible to nearby participants.

Bitcoin payments are separate from messaging

Bitchat also integrates Cashu, a Bitcoin-backed eCash system whose tokens represent claims on funds held by participating issuers. Offline messaging does not itself require Bitcoin transactions, and Cashu payments involve different trust assumptions from holding Bitcoin directly.

The app is open source and is distributed as Bitchat Mesh by Permissionless Tech. Its French chart performance does not establish widespread use of its payment features.

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