Briar

Briar Project

About this app

Briar is a messaging app designed for activists, journalists, and anyone else who needs a safe, easy and robust way to communicate. Unlike traditional messaging apps, Briar doesn't rely on a central server - messages are synchronized directly between the users' devices. If the Internet's down, Briar can sync via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or memory cards, keeping the information flowing in a crisis. If the Internet's up, Briar can sync via the Tor network, protecting users and their relationships from surveillance.

The app features private messages, groups and forums as well as blogs. Support for the Tor network is built into the app. Everything you do in Briar is only stored on your device unless you decide to share it with other users.

There are no advertisements and no tracking. The source code of the app is completely open for anyone to inspect and has already been professionally audited. All releases of Briar are reproducible, making it possible to verify that the published source code exactly matches the app published here. Development is done by a small non-profit team.

Privacy policy: https://briarproject.org/privacy

User manual: https://briarproject.org/manual

Source code: https://code.briarproject.org/briar/briar

Ratings and reviews

Best Offline Messaging app!! The fact you can communicate through Bluetooth only really helps when service is bad in a friend group or on a cruise ship with family. The user interface is easy to use, and you can have multiple messages at once. I love that you can send emoji's and photos by Bluetooth only and or through wifi. It helped my friends and family stay connected during a cruise. I wish they added a walkie-talkie voice note feature but it's great so far.

The good: *I love that it works via Bluetooth. *Its fast and easy to add a friend with the QR code. *The Bluetooth connection has surprisingly long range! The bad: *It doesn't work via offline WiFi LAN. *you cant send pictures in groups. *you cant post pictures in forums. *you cant post pictures in blogs. *you cant react to specific images that have been sent.

"Your Briar account is stored encrypted only on your device.." Well, I loved the idea. I installed the app and started using it, but then comes the bummer! First, I was logged out of my Signal app as soon as I logged into the Briar app!!! I have no idea why this happened, but there must be some sort of conflicts between these two apps?!! Then, I noticed there is NO way to send voice messages in Forums or Blogs!!! Sorry, this is not going to work!

What’s new

* Update translations, add Bengali
* Update list of Tor bridges
* Upgrade Tor to 0.4.8.14
* Replace obfs4proxy and snowflake with lyrebird