Chat Local: Offline Messaging

New: delivery receipts show when your message reached someone, plus message search, chat backgrounds and sender colors. Built for festivals with no cell service.

Chat Local is the messaging app that works when nothing else does. Using Bluetooth mesh technology, you can send messages to people nearby — no internet, no cell service, no problem.

PERFECT FOR • Desert festivals and burns (no cell towers for miles) • Music festivals and concerts (overloaded networks) • Camping, hiking, and backpacking trips • International travel (avoid roaming) • Airplanes, basements, and parking garages • Emergency preparedness when towers are down

HOW IT WORKS Open the app, pick a name, and start chatting. Messages travel directly between phones over Bluetooth, hopping through other users to reach people farther than Bluetooth alone would carry — and they keep arriving while Chat Local is in the background and your phone is locked. Just leave it running rather than force-quitting it.

KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO IT Every message shows its status — sending, sent, or received by however many nearby devices confirmed it. You see what the app actually knows. (Much older versions don't send confirmations, so a message can arrive showing only "Sent".)

FREE FEATURES • Bluetooth mesh messaging that works with no signal • Delivery confirmations • Works completely offline, including airplane mode • No account or sign-up required • Discover and preview nearby conversations • Join up to 2 conversations • Profanity filter for family-friendly chats • Battery-optimized Bluetooth Low Energy

CHAT LOCAL PRO • Unlimited conversations instead of 2 • 400-character messages instead of 50 • 500 messages of history per conversation instead of 20 • Password-protected conversations, with a lock on each message that went out protected • Message search, with jump-to-message • Export a full conversation transcript • 10 themes, 8 chat backgrounds in light and dark, and a bubble color per person • Block anyone you'd rather not hear from • Network view of every nearby device • Keyword alerts, and notifications for new nearby conversations • Send every half second instead of every five

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY Tap any locked theme, background or sender color to see it applied to your real conversation right away — no purchase, no sign-up.

YOUR PRIVACY MATTERS • Messages never touch our servers — there are no servers • No cloud storage of any kind • No account means no personal data to breach • Every message is protected in transit by default • Optional password protection for a conversation (Pro)

Conversation and display names are broadcast to nearby users so discovery works.

GOOD TO KNOW Chat Local needs Bluetooth on and works best within roughly 10-30 meters, farther when others relay along the way. The more people nearby running it, the better it works — bring a friend.

Bluetooth messaging between moving phones is never guaranteed. Range, obstacles, crowds and battery savers all affect whether a message gets through, and one that can't reach anyone won't be delivered. 2.0 makes delivery considerably more reliable, but it improves the odds rather than promising them. Never rely on Chat Local as your only way to reach someone in an emergency.

Everything except buying Pro works offline, so upgrade before you leave signal; what you bought keeps working offline.

Conversation passwords are never stored and can't be recovered by anyone, including us. Once you unlock a conversation, a key derived from your password is kept in the device Keychain so it stays unlocked.

Pro is a monthly or yearly subscription, or a one-time purchase that unlocks everything forever. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings.