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Comment by theultdev | Hacker News Reader

Bluetooth mesh chats were quite popular and effective during the Hong Kong protests.

Aside from protests, I'd also say they could be useful during festivals and other events where mobile networks can get quite congested.

Eventually fragments of groups will pass within range, forwarding messages to the rest, useful for coordinating rendezvous.

If built into an app for the event, it would be even more effective.

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Thanks, that's helpful context!

A side note, airtags + iphones are effectively the largest bluetooth mesh network in the world, and they are quite useful even though only coordinates are sent.

Do you mean useful in general or useful in this specific application?

If the goal is transmitting a message how do coordinates from a "read-only" device facilitate a p2p transfer?

I meant useful in general. It's slightly off topic, but I think many people overlook the fact they are just a bluetooth mesh network as well.

Imagine one just as large as the airtag + iphone ecosystem but with messaging capabilities!

Would be cool to see one built into android + iphones but that will never happen. But a 3rd party could get so popular that it achieves somewhat close to that.

I'd imagine remote villages and towns could all install this and communicate with each community member very effectively.

Ah! I see the connection of your points. Thanks so much for your thoughtful responses.

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